J?  Warn,  03.  QI. 


THE 


WORLD  TO  COME; 

OR, 

DISCOURSES  ON  THE  JOYS  OR  SORROWS 


DEPARTED  SOULS  AT  DEATH, 


THE  GLORY  OR  TERROR  OF  THE  RESURRECTION, 


BY  I.  WATTS,  D.  D. 


\ 


iHttsinica&j 

M‘DONALD  & BEESON. 

PHILADELPHIA, — J.  B.  LIPPIWCOTT  & CO.,  PRINTERS. 

1846. 


4 


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*;i  f.  > : a ■ 3K>  *i 


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# 


i ■ i 1 ■ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive' 
in  2016  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/worldtocomeordis00watt_0 


PREFACE. 


Among  all  the  solemn  and  important  things  which 
relate  to  religion,  there  is  nothing  that  strikes  the 
soul  of  man  with  so  much  awe  and  solemnity  as  the 
scenes  of  death,  and  the  dreadful  or  delightful  conse- 
quences which  attend  it.  Who  can  think  of  entering 
into  that  unknown  region  where  spirits  dwell,  with- 
out the  strongest  impressions  upon  the  mind,  arising 
from  so  strange  a manner  of  existence?  Who  can 
take  a survey  of  the  resurrection  of  the  millions  of 
the  dead,  and  of  the  tribunal  of  Christ  whence  men 
and  angels  must  receive  their  doom,  without  the  most 
painful  solicitude,  “What  will  my  sentence  be?” 
Who  can  meditate  on  the  intense  and  unmingled  plea- 
sure or  pain  in  the  world  to  come,  without  the  most 
pathetic  emotions  of  soul,  since  each  of  us  must  be 
determined  to  one  of  these  states,  and  they  are  both 
of  everlasting  duration? 

These  are  the  things  that  touch  the  springs  of 
every  passion  in  the  most  sensible  manner,  and  raise 
our  hopes  and  our  fears  to  their  supreme  exercise. 
These  are  the  subjects  with  which  our  blessed  Sa- 
viour and  his  apostles  frequently  entertained  their 
hearers,  in  order  to  persuade  them  to  hearken  and 
attend  to  the  divine  lessons  which  they  published 
among  them.  These  were  some  of  the  sharpest  wea- 
pons of  their  holy  warfare,  which  entered  into  the 
inmost  vitals  of  mankind  and  pierced  their  consciences 
with  the  highest  solicitude.  These  have  been  the 
happy  means  to  awaken  thousands  of  sinners  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  to  allure  and  hasten  them 


VI 


PREFACE. 


to  enter  into  that  glorious  refuge  that  is  set  before 
them  in  the  gospel. 

My  design,  therefore,  has  been  to  set  the  great  and 
most  momentous  things  of  a future  world  in  the  most 
convincing  and  affecting  light,  and  to  enforce  them 
upon  the  conscience  with  all  the  fervour  that  such 
subjects  demand  and  require.  And  may  our  blessed 
Redeemer,  who  reigns  Lord  of  the  invisible  world, 
pronounce  these  words  with  a divine  power  to  the 
heart  of  every  man  who  shall  either  read  or  hear  them. 

The  last  discourses  of  this  volume,  especially  the 
eternity  of  the  punishments  of  hell,  have  been  in  lat- 
ter and  former  years  made  a matter  of  dispute;  and 
were  I to  pursue  my  inquiries  into  this  doctrine,  only 
by  the  aids  of  the  light  of  nature  and  reason,  I fear 
my  natural  tenderness  might  warp  me  aside  from  the 
rules  and  the  demands  of  strict  justice,  and  the  wise 
and  holy  government  of  the  great  God. 

But  as  I confine  myself  almost  entirely  to  the  reve- 
lation of  scripture  in  all  my  searches  into  the  things 
of  revealed  religion  and  Christianity,  I arn  constrained 
to  forget  or  to  lay  aside  that  softness  and  tenderness 
of  animal  nature  which  might  lead  me  astray,  and  to 
follow  the  unerring  dictates  of  the  word  of  God. 

The  scripture  frequently  and  in  the  plainest  and 
strongest  manner,  asserts  the  everlasting  punishment 
of  sinners  in  hell;  and  that  by  all  the  methods  of 
expression  which  are  used  in  scripture  to  signify  an 
everlasting  continuance. 

God’s  utter  hatred  and  aversion  to  sin,  in  this  per- 
petual punishment  of  it,  are  manifested  many  ways, 
(1.)  By  the  just  and  severe  threatenings  of  the  wise 
and  righteous  Governor  of  the  world,  which  are  scat- 
tered up  and  down  in  his  word.  (2.)  By  the  ve- 


PREFACE.  Vii 

racity  of  God  in  his  intimations  or  narratives  of  past 
events,  as  Jude  7.  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  suffering 
the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire.  (3.)  By  his  express  pre- 
dictions. Matt.  xxv.  46:  “These  shall  go  away  into 
everlasting  punishment.’’  2 Thess.  i.  9:  “Who  shall 
be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction;”  and  I 
might  add,  (4.)  By  the  veracity  and  truth  of  all  his 
holy  prophets  and  apostles,  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ 
at  the  head  of  them,  whom  he  has  sent  to  acquaint 
mankind  with  the  rules  of  their  duty,  and  the  certain 
judgment  of  God  in  a holy  correspondence  there- 
with, and  that  in  such  words  as  seem  to  admit  of  no 
way  of  escape,  or  of  hope  for  the  condemned  criminals. 

I must  confess  here,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  great 
and  blessed  God  any  other  way  to  vindicate  his  own 
eternal  and  unchangeable  hatred  of  sin,  the  inflexible 
justice  of  his  government,  the  wisdom  of  his  severe 
threatenings  and  the  veracity  of  his  predictions,  if  it 
were  also  possible  for  him,  without  this  terrible  execu- 
tion, to  vindicate  the  veracity,  sincerity  and  wisdom 
of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  Jesus  Christ  his  Son, 
the  greatest  and  chiefest  of  his  divine  messengers; 
and  then  if  the  blessed  God  should  at  any  time,  in  a 
consistence  with  his  glorious  and  incomprehensible 
perfections,  release  those  wretched  creatures  from 
their  acute  pains  and  long  imprisonment  in  hell,  either 
with  a design  of  the  utter  destruction  of  their  beings 
by  annihilation,  or  to  put  them  into  some  unknown 
world,  upon  a new  foot  of  trial,  I think  I ought  cheer- 
fully and  joyfully  to  accept  this  appointment  of  God, 
for  the  good  of  millions  of  my  fellow-creatures,  and  add 
my  joys  and  praises  to  all  the  songs  and  triumphs  of 
the  heavenly  world  in  the  day  of  such  a divine  and 
glorious  release  of  these  prisoners. 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


But  I feel  myself  under  a necessity  of  confessing, 
that  I am  utterly  unable  to  solve  these  difficulties 
according  to  the  discoveries  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  must  be  my  constant  rule  of  faith  and  hope, 
and  expectation,  with  regard  to  myself  and  others.  I 
have  read  the  strongest  and  best  writers  on  the  other 
side,  yet  after  all  my  studies  I have  not  been  able  to 
find  any  way  how  these  difficulties  may  be  removed, 
and  how  the  divine  perfections  and  the  conduct  of 
God  in  his  word,  may  be  fairly  vindicated  without 
the  establishment  of  this  doctrine,  as  awful  and  for- 
midable as  it  is. 

The  ways  indeed  of  the  great  God  and  his  thoughts 
are  above  our  thoughts  and  our  ways,  as  the  heavens 
are  above  the  earth;  yet  1 must  rest  and  acquiesce 
where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father’s  chief  mi- 
nister both  of  his  wrath  and  his  love,  has  left  me  in 
the  divine  revelations  of  scripture ; and  I am  constrain- 
ed, therefore,  to  leave  these  unhappy  creatures  under 
the  chains  of  everlasting  darkness,  into  which  they 
have  cast  themselves  by  their  wilful  iniquities,  till  the 
blessed  God  shall  see  fit  to  release  them. 

This  would  be  indeed  such  a new,  such  an  asto- 
nishing and  universal  jubilee,  both  for  devils  and 
wicked  men  as  must  fill  heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  with 
hallelujahs  and  joy:  in  the  mean  time  it  is  my  ardent 
wish,  that  this  awful  sense  of  the  terrors  of  the  Al- 
mighty, and  his  everlasting  anger,  which  the  word 
of  the  great  God  denounces,  may  awaken  some  souls 
timely  to  bethink  themselves  of  the  dreadful  danger 
into  which  they  are  running,  before  these  terrors  seize 
them  at  death  and  begin  to  be  executed  upon  them 
without  release  and  without  hope. 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE  I. 

THE  END  OF  TIME. 

Rev.  x.  5,  6. 

And  the  angel,  which  I saw  stand  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the 
earth,  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that 
liveth  for  ever  and  ever, — That  there  should  be  time  no  longer,  1 

DISCOURSE  II. 

THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN  DYING  IN  PEACE. 

A Funeral  Discourse. 

Luke  xii.  37. 

Blessed  are  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh, 
shall  find  watching,  . * 27 

DISCOURSE  III. 

SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

Mark  xiii.  36. 

Watch  ye  therefore,  lest,  coming  suddenly,  he  find  you  sleeping,  55 
DISCOURSE  IV. 

CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 

2 Thess.  i.  10. 

When  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired 
in  all  them  that  believe,  . 


81 


X 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE  V. 

THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

Rev.  vi.  15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the  rich 
men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every 
bondman,  and  every  freeman,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens 
and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains:  and  said  to  the  moun- 
tains and  rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Damb : For  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who 
shall  be  able  to  stand ! . . . . .111 

DISCOURSE  VI. 

THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS,  OR  A MEDITATION  ON  THE  ROCKS 
NEAR  TUNBRIDGE  WELLS. 

Rev.  vi.  15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  &c.,  hid  them- 
selves in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains:  and 
said  to  the  rocks  and  mountains,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us 
from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the 
wrath  of  the  Lamb,  . . . . . . .127 

DISCOURSE  VII. 

NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

Rev.  xxii.  25. 

And  there  shall  be  no  night  there,  . . . . .147 

DISCOURSE  VIII. 

A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

2 Cor.  v.  5. 

Now  he  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same  thing  is  God,  169 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


DISCOURSE  IX. 

NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

Rev.  xxi.  4. 

Neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  ....  205 

DISCOURSE  X. 

THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 

Rom.  viii.  23. 

And  not  only  they,  bnt  ourselves  also,  who  have  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within  our- 
selves, wailing  for  the  adoption,  that  is,  the  redemption  of 
the  body ‘>50 

DISCOURSE  XI. 

SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION, 

Job  xiv.  13,  14,  15. 

O that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave,  that  thou  wouldest 
keep  me  secret  until  thy  wrath  be  past,  that  thou  wouldest 
appoint  me  a set  time,  and  remember  me!  If  a man  die, 
shall  he  live  again:  all  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will 
1 wait  till  my  change  come.  Thou  shalt  call,  and  I will 
answer  thee:  thou  wilt  have  a desire  to  the  work  of  thy 
hands,  ..........  279 

A speech  over  a grave,  .......  308 


DISCOURSE  XII. 

THE  NATURE  01  THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL. 

Mark  ix.  4(5. 

Where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  (he  fire  is  not  quenched,  . 311 


XU 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 

THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL. 

Mark  ix.  46.  \ 

Where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched,  35G 
DISCOURSE  XIV. 

THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 

A Funeral  Discourse. 

1 Cor.  xv.  26. 

The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death,  . . . 409 

DISCOURSE  XV. 

THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

A Funeral  Discourse. 

Her.  xii.  23. 

—The  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  . . .441 

LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 

Job  xxiii.  3. 

O that  I knew  where  I might  find  him,  . . . .551 

Death  and  Heaven,  in  five  lyric  odes, 


559 


DISCOURSES 


ON 

THE  WORLD  TO  COME. 


DISCOURSE  I. 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 

Rev.  x.  5,  6: 

And  the  angel,  which  I saw  stand  upon  the  sea , and  upon 
the  earth,  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  swore  by  him. 
that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever , — That  there  should  be  time 
no  longer. 

This  is  the  oath,  and  the  solemn  sentence  of  a 
mighty  angel,  who  came  down  from  heaven,  and 
by  the  description  of  him  in  the  first  verse,  he  seems 
to  be  the  angel  of  God’s  presence,  in  whom  is 
the  name  of  God,  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self, who  pronounced  and  sware,  that  time  should  be 
no  longer;  for  all  seasons  and  times  are  now  put 
into  his  hand,  together  with  the  book  of  his  Father's 
decrees;  Rev.  v.  7,  9.  What  special  age  or  period 
of  time,  in  this  world,  the  prophecy  refers  to,  may 
not  be  so  easy  to  determine;  but  this  is  certain,  that 
it  may  be  happily  applied  to  the  period  of  every 
man’s  life;  for  whensoever  the  term  of  our  continu- 
ance in  this  world  is  finished, our  time,  in  the  present 
circumstances  and  scenes  that  attend  it,  shall  be  no 
2 * 


2 m 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


more.  We  shall  be  swept  off  the  stage  of  this  visible 
state  into  an  unseen  and  eternal  world:  eternity 
comes  upon  us  at  once,  and  all  that  we  enjoy,  all 
that  we  do,  and  all  that  we  suffer  in  time,  shall  be 
no  longer. 

Let  us  stand  still  here,  and”  consider,  in  the  first 
place,  what  awful  and  important  thoughts  are  con- 
tained in  this  sentence,  what  solemn  ideas  should  arise 
to  the  view  of  mortal  creatures,  when  it  shall  be  pro- 
nounced concerning  each  of  them,  that  time  shall  be 
no  more. 

1.  The  time  of  the  recovery  of  our  nature  from  its 
sinful  and  wretched  state  shall  be  no  longer.  We 
come  into  this  world  fallen  creatures,  children  of  ini- 
quity, and  heirs  of  death;  we  have  lost  the  image  of 
God,  who  made  us, .and  which  our  nature  enjoyed  in 
our  first  parents;  and,  instead  of  it,  we  are  changed 
into  the  image  of  the  devil,  in  the  lusts  of  the  mind, 
in  pride  and  malice,  in  self-sufficiency  and  enmity 
to  God;  and  we  have  put  on  also  the  image  of  the 
brute,  in  sinful  appetites  and  sensualities,  and  in  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh;  nor  can  we  ever  be  made  truly 
happy,  till  the  image  of  the  blessed  God  be  restored 
upon  us,  till  we  are  made  holy,  as  he  is  holy,  till  we 
have  a divine  change  passed  upon  us,  whereby  we  are 
created  anew,  and  reformed  in  heart  and  practice. 
And  this  life  is  the  only  time  given  us  for  this  im- 
portant change.  If  this  life  be  finished,  before  the 
image  of  God  be  restored  to  us,  this  image  will  never 
be  restored ; but  we  shall  bear  the  likeness  of  devils 
for  ever;  and  perhaps  the  image  of  the  brute  too,  at 
the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  be  farther  off  from 
God,  and  all  that  is  holy,  than  ever  we  were  here  upon 
earth. 

Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it,  then,  to  be  fre- 
quently awakening  ourselves,  at  special  seasons  and 
periods  of  life,  to  inquire,  whether  this  image  of  God 
is  begun  to  be  renewed,  whether  we  have  this  glorious 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


3 


change  wrought  in  us,  whether  our  desires  and  de- 
lights are  fixed  upon  holy  and  heavenly  things,  in- 
stead of  those  sensual  and  earthly  objects,  which  draw 
away  all  our  souls  from  God  and  heaven.  Let  it  ap- 
pear to  us  as  a matter  of  utmost  moment  to  seek  after 
this  change;  let  us  pursue  it  with  unwearied  labours 
and  strivings  with  our  own  hearts,  and  perpetual 
importunities  at  the  throne  of  grace,  lest  the  voice  of 
him  who  swears  that  there  shall  be  time  no  longer, 
should  seize  us  in  some  unexpected  moment,  and  lest 
he  swear  in  his  wrath  concerning  us,  “ Let  him  that 
is  holy  be  holy  still,  and  let  him  that  is  filthy  be  filthy 
still,”  Rev.  xxii.  11. 

2.  When  this  sentence  is  pronounced  concerning 
us,  the  season  and  the  means  of  restoring  us  to  the 
favour  and  love  of  God  shall  be  no  longer.  We  are 
born  children  of  wrath,  as  well  as  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  iniquity;  Eph.  ii.  3.  We  have  lost  the  ori- 
ginal favour  of  our  Maker  and  are  banished  from 
his  love,  and  the  superior  blessings  of  his  goodness; 
and  yet,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  that  we  are  not  at  pre- 
sent for  ever  banished  beyond  all  hope;  this  time  of 
life  is  given  us  to  seek  the  recovery  of  the  love  of 
God,  by  returning  to  him  according  to  the  gospel  of 
his  Son;  now  is  pardon  and  peace,  now  is  grace 
and  salvation  preached  unto  men,  to  sinful  wretched 
men,  who  are  at  enmity  with  God,  and  the  objects 
of  his  high  displeasure;  now  the  voice  of  mercy  calls 
to  us,  “ This  is  the  accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of 
salvation;”  2 Cor.  vi.  2.  “To-day,  if  ye  will  hear 
his  voice,  let  not  your  hearts  be  hardened  to  refuse 
it;”  Heb.  iii.  15.  Now  the  fountain  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  is  set  open  to  wash  our  souls  from  the  guilt  of 
sin;  now  all  the  springs  of  his  mercy,  are  broken 
up  in  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel;  now  God  is 
in  Christ,  reconciling  sinners  to  himself;  2 Cor.  v. 
19,  and  he  has  sent  us,  his  ministers,  to  entreat  you 
in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God;  and  we 


4 


THE  END  OP'  TIME. 


beseech  you  in  his  name,  continue  not  one  day  or 
one  hour  longer  in  your  enmity  and  rebellion,  but 
be  ye  reconciled  to  God,  your  Creator,  and  accept  of 
his  offered  forgiveness  and  grace,  verse  20. 

The  moment  is  hastening  upon  us,  when  this 
mighty  angel,  who  manages  the  affairs  of  the  king- 
dom of  providence,  shall  swear  concerning  every 
unbelieving  and  impenitent  sinner,  that  the  time  of 
offered  mercy  shall  be  no  longer,  the  time  of  pardon 
and  grace  and  reconciliation  shall  be  no  more : the 
sound  of  this  mercy  reaches  not  to  the  regions  of  the 
dead;  those  who  die  before  they  are  reconciled,  die 
under  the  load  of  all  their  sins,  and  must  perish  for 
ever,  without  the  least  hope  or  glimpse  of  reconciling 
or  forgiving  grace. 

3.  At  the  term  of  this  mortal  life,  the  time  of 
prayer  and  repentance  and  service  for  God  or  man 
in  this  world  shall  be  no  longer.  Eccl.  ix.  10. 
“There  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor 
wisdom,  in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest,”  whither 
we  are  all  hastening.  Let  every  sinful  creature  there- 
fore ask  himself,  Have  I never  yet  begun  to  pray? 
Never  begun  to  call  upon  the  mercy  of  the  God  that 
made  me?  Never  begun  to  repent  of  all  my  crimes 
and  follies?  Nor  begun  in  good  earnest  to  do  service 
for  God,  or  to  honour  him  amongst  men?  Dreadful 
thought  indeed ! — when,  it  may  be,  the  next  hour 
we  may  be  put  out  of  all  capacity  and  opportunity 
to  do  it  for  ever ! As  soon  as  ever  an  impenitent  sinner 
has  the  veil  of  death  drawn  over  him,  all  his  opportu- 
nities of  this  kind  are  for  ever  cut  off : he  that  has 
never  repented,  never  prayed,  never  honoured  his 
God,  shall  never  be  able  to  pray  or  repent,  or  do  any 
thing  for  God  or  his  honour  through  all  the  ages  of 
his  future  immortality : nor  is  there  any  promise 
made  to  repenting  or  returning  sinners  in  the  other 
world,  whither  we  are  hastening.  As  the  tree  falls, 
when  it  is  cut  down,  so  it  lies,  and  it  must  for  ever  lie ; 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


5 


pointing  to  the  north  or  the  south,  to  hell  or  heaven; 
Eccles.  xi.  3. 

And,  indeed,  there  is  no  true  prayer,  no  sincere 
repentance,  can  be  exercised  after  this  life;  for  the 
soul  that  has  wasted  away  all  its  time  given  for  re- 
pentance and  prayer,  is  at  the  moment  of  death  left 
under  everlasting  hardness  of  heart;  and  whatsoever 
enmity  against  God  and  godliness  was  found  in  the 
heart  in  this  world,  is  increased  in  the  world  to  come, 
when  all  manner  of  softening  means  and  mercies 
are  ever  at  an  end.  This  leads  me  to  the  next 
thought. 

4.  How  wretched  soever  our  state  is  at  death,  the 
day  of  hope  is  ended,  and  it  returns  no  more.  Be 
our  circumstances  never  so  bad,  yet  we  are  not  com- 
pletely wretched  while  the  time  of  hope  remains. 
We  are  all  by  nature  miserable  by  reason  of  sin,  but 
it  is  only  despair  can  perfect  our  misery.  Therefore 
fallen  angels  are  sealed  up  under  misery  because  there 
is  no  door  of  hope  opened  for  them.  But  in  this  life 
there  is  hope  for  the  worst  of  sinful  men : there  is 
the  word  of  grace  and  hope  calling  them  in  the  gos- 
pel ; there  is  the  voice  of  divine  mercy  sounding  in 
the  sanctuary,  and  “ blessed  are  they  that  hear  the 
joyful  sound  ;”  Ps.  Ixxxix.  15.  But  if  we  turn  the 
deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  God  and  his  Son,  and  to  all 
the  tender  and  compassionate  entreaties  of  a dying 
Saviour,  hope  is  hastening  to  its  period;  for  this  very 
angel  will  shortly  swear,  that  this  joyful  sound  shall 
be  heard  no  longer. 

He  comes  now  to  the  door  of  our  hearts,  he  sues 
there  for  admittance:  Open  unto  me,  and  receive  me 
as  your  Saviour  and  your  Lord ; give  me  and  my 
gospel  free  admission,  and  I will  come  in  and  bestow 
upon  you  the  riches  of  my  grace  and  all  my  salvation : 
open  your  hearts  to  me  with  the  holy  desires  and 
humble  submission  of  penitence,  and  receive  the 
blessings  of  righteousness  and  pardon  and  eternal 


6 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


life.  He  now  invites  you  to  return  to  God,  with  an 
acknowledgment  and  renunciation  of  every  sin,  and 
he  offers  to  take  yon  by  the  hand,  and  introduce  you 
into  his  Father’s  presence  with  comfort:  this  is  a 
day  of  hope  for  the  vilest  and  most  hateful  criminals ; 
but  if  you  continue  to  refuse,  he  will  shortly  swear 
in  his  wrath,  you* shall  never  enter  into  his  kingdom, 
you  shall  never  taste  of  the  provisions  of  his  grace, 
you  shall  never  be  partakers  of  the  blessings  pur- 
chased with  his  blood.  Heb.  iii.  11,  18.  “I  sware 
in  my  wrath,”  saith  the  Lord,  “ they  shall  not  enter 
into  my  rest.” 

Oh  the  dreadful  state  of  sinful  creatures,  who  con- 
tinue in  such  obstinacy,  who  waste  away  the  means 
of  grace  and  the  seasons  of  hope,  week  after  week, 
and  month  after  month,  till  the  day  of  grace  and  hope 
is  for  ever  at  an  end  with  them ! Hopeless  creatures 1 
Under  the  power  and  the  plague  of  sin,  under  the 
wrath  and  curse  of  God,  under  the  eternal  displea- 
sure of  Jesus,  who  was  once  the  minister  of  his  Fa- 
ther’s love,  and  they  must  abide  under  ail  this  wretch- 
edness through  a long  eternity,  and  in  the  land  of 
everlasting  despair.  But  I forbear  that  theme  at  pre- 
sent, and  proceed. 

5.  At  the  moment  of  our  death  the  time  of  our  pre- 
paration for  the  hour  of  judgment,  and  for  the  ensu- 
rance  of  heaven  and  happiness  shall  be  no  longer. 
Miserable  creatures,  that  are  summoned  to  die  thus 
unprepared ! This  life  is  the  only  time  to  prepare 
for  dying,  to  get  ready  to  stand  before  the  Judge  of 
the  whole  earth,  and  to  secure  our  title  to  the  hea- 
venly blessedness.  Let  my  heart  inquire,  have  I ever 
seriously  begun  to  prepare  for  a dying  hour,  and  to 
appear  before  the  Judge  of  all  ? Have  I ever  con- 
cerned myself  in  good  earnest,  to  secure  an  interest 
in  the  heavenly  inheritance,  when  this  earthly  taber- 
nacle shall  be  dissolved?  Have  I ever  made  interest 
for  the  favour  of  God,  and  a share  of  the  inheritance 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


7 


of  the  saints  by  Jesus,  the  great  Mediator,  while  he 
afforded  life  and  time  ? 

Death  is  daily  and  hourly  hastening  upon  us: 
Death  is  the  king  of  terrors,  and  will  fulfil  all  his 
name  to  every  soul  that  is  unprepared.  It  is  a piece 
of  wisdom  then  for  every  one  of  us,  since  we  must 
die,  to  search  and  feel  whether  death  has  lost  its  sting 
or  not:  whether  it  be  taken  away  by  the  blood  of 
Christ.  Is  this  blood  sprinkled  on  my  conscience,  by 
the  humble  exercise  of  faith  on  a dying  Saviour  ? 
Are  the  terrors  of  death  removed,  and  am  I prepared 
to  meet  it  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  blessed 
Spirit  ? Have  I such  an  interest  in  the  covenant  of 
grace  as  takes  away  the  sting  of  death,  as  turns  the 
curse  into  a blessing,  and  changes  the  dark  scenes  of 
death  into  the  commencement  of  a new  and  everlast- 
ing life  ? This  is  that  preparation  for  dying  for  which 
our  time  of  life  was  given  us,  and  happy  are  those 
who  are  taught  of  God  to  make  this  use  of  it. 

Judgment  is  making  haste  towards  us;  months 
and  days  of  divine  patience  are  flying  swiftly  away, 
and  the  last  great  day  is  just  at  hand ; then  we  must 
give  an  account  of  “all  that  has  been  done  in  the 
body,  whether  it  has  been  good  or  evil 2 Cor.  v. 
10,  and  what  a dismal  and  distressing  surprise  will 
it  be  to  have  the  Judge  come  upon  us  in  a blaze  of 
glory  and  terror,  while  we  have  no  good  account  to 
give  at  his  demand  ! And  yet  this  is  the  very  end 
and  design  of  all  our  time,  which  is  lengthened  out 
to  us  on  this  side  the  grave,  and  of  all  the  advantages 
that  we  have  enjoyed  in  this  life,  that  we  may  be 
ready  to  render  up  our  account  with  joy,  to  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth. 

Heaven  is  not  ours  by  birth  and  inheritance,  as 
lands  and  houses  on  earth  descend  to  us  from  our 
earthly  parents.  We  as  well  as  they  are  by  nature 
unfit  for  heaven,  and  children  of  wrath;  but  we  may 


8 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


be  born  again,  we  may  be  born  of  God,  and  become 
heirs  of  the  heavenly  inheritance  through  Jesus 
Christ:  we  may  be  renewed  into  the  temper  and 
spirit  of  heaven;  and  this  life  is  the  only  season  that 
is  given  us  for  this  important  change:  shall  we  let 
our  days  and  years  pass  away  one  after  another  in 
long  succession,  and  continue  the  children  of  wrath 
still?  Are  we  contented  to  go  on  this  year  as  the  last 
without  a title  to  heaven,  without  a divine  temper, 
and  without  any  preparation  for  the  business  or  the 
blessedness  of  that  happy  world? 

6.  When  this  life  comes  to  an  end,  the  time  of  all 
our  earthly  comforts  and  amusements  shall  be  no  more. 
We  shall  have  none  of  these  sensible  things  around 
us  to  employ  or  entertain  our  eyes  or  our  ears,  to 
gratify  our  appetites,  to  sooth  our  passions,  or  to  sup- 
port our  spirits  in  distress.  All  the  infinite  variety 
of  cares,  labours  and  joys,  which  surround  us  here, 
shall  be  no  more:  life  with  all  the  busy  scenes  and 
the  pleasing  satisfactions  of  it  dissolve  and  perish 
together:  have  a care  then  that  you  do  not  make  any 
of  them  your  chief  hope,  for  they  are  but  the  things 
of  time,  they  are  all  short  and  dying  enjoyments. 

Under  the  various  calamities  of  this  life  we  find  a 
variety  of  sensible  reliefs,  and  our  thoughts  and  souls 
are  called  away  from  their  sorrows  by  present  busi- 
ness, or  diverted  by  present  pleasure;  but  all  these 
avocations  and  amusements  will  forsake  us  at  once 
when  we  drop  this  mortal  tabernacle:  we  must  enter 
alone  into  the  world  of  spirits  and  live  without  them 
there. 

Whatsoever  agonies  or  terrors,  or  huge  distresses, 
we  may  meet  with  in  that  unknown  region,  we  shall 
have  none  of  these  sensible  enjoyments  to  soften  and 
allay  them ; no  drop  of  sweetness  to  mix  with  that 
bitter  cup,  no  scenes  of  gaiety  and  merriment  to 
relieve  the  gloom  of  that  utter  darkness,  or  to  sooth 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


9 


the  anguish  of  that  eternal  heart-ache.  O,  take  heed, 
my  friends,  that  your  souls  do  not  live  too  much  on 
any  of  the  satisfactions  of  this  life,  that  your  affec- 
tions be  not  set  upon  them  in  too  high  a degree,  that 
you  make  them  not  your  idols  and  your  chief  good, 
lest  you  be  left  helpless  and  miserable  under  ever- 
lasting disappointments,  for  they  cannot  follow  you 
into  the  world  of  souls;  they  are  the  things  of  time, 
and  they  have  no  place  in  eternity.  Read  what 
caution  the  apostle  Paul  gives  us  in  our  converse  with 
the  dearest  comforts  of  life;  1 Cor.  vii.  29.  The  time 
is  short;  and  let  those  who  have  the  largest  affluence 
of  temporal  blessings,  who  have  the  nearest  and 
kindest  relatives,  and  the  most  endeared  friendships, 
be  mortified  to  them,  and  be  in  some  sense  “as  though 
they  had  them  not,”  for  ye  cannot  possess  them  long. 
St.  Peter  joins  in  the  same  sort  of  advice,  1 Pet.  iv. 
7.  “ The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand,  therefore  be 

ye  sober;”  be  ye  moderate  in  every  enjoyment  on 
earth,  and  prepare  to  part  with  them  all  when  the 
angel  pronounces  that  “Time  shall  be  no  longer:” 
his  sentence  puts  an  effectual  period  to  every  joy  in 
this  life,  and  to  every  hope  that  is  not  eternal. 

Thus  we  have  taken  a brief  survey  of  what  are 
the  solemn  and  awful  thoughts  relating  to  such  mortal 
creatures  in  general,  which  are  contained  in  this 
voice  or  sentence  of  the  angel,  that  time  shall  be 
no  longer. 

In  the  second  place,  let  us  proceed  farther,  and 
inquire  a little  what  are  those  terrors  which  will  at- 
tend sinners,  impenitent  sinners,  at  the  end  of  time. 

1.  A dreadful  account  must  be  given  of  all  this 
lost  and  wasted  time.  When  the  Judge  shall  as- 
cend his  throne  in  the  air,  and  all  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Adam  are  brought  before  him,  the 
grand  inquiry  will  be,  What  have  you  done  with 
all  the  time  of  life  in  yonder  world?  You  spent 


10 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


thirty  or  forty  years  there,  or  perhaps  seventy  or 
eighty,  and  I gave  you  this  time  with  a thousand 
opportunities  and  means  of  grace  and  salvation;  what 
have  you  done  with  them  all?  How  many  sabbaths 
did  I afford  you  ? How  many  sermons  have  you 
heard?  How  many  seasons  did  I give  you  for 
prayer,  and  retirement,  and  converse  with  God  and 
your  own  souls  ? Did  you  improve  time  well  ? Did 
you  pray  ? Did  you  converse  with  your  souls  and 
with  God?  Or  did  you  suffer  time  to  slide  away 
in  a thousand  impertinences,  and  neglect  the  one 
thing  necessary? 

2.  A fruitless  and  bitter  mourning  for  the  waste 
and  abuse  of  time  will  be  another  consequence  of 
your  folly.  Whatsoever  satisfaction  you  may  take 
now  in  passing  time  away  merrily  and  without  think- 
ing, it  must  not  pass  away  so  for  ever.  If  the  ap- 
proaches of  death  do  not  awaken  you,  yet  judgment 
will  do  it.  Your  consciences  will  be  worried  with 
terrible  reflections  on  your  foolish  conduct. 

O could  we  but  hear  the  complaints  of  the  £ouls 
in  hell,  what  multitudes  of  them  would  be  found 
groaning  out  this  dismal  note,  How  hath  my  time 
been  lost  in  vanity,  and  my  soul  is  now  lost  for  ever 
in  distress ! How  might  I have  shone  among  the 
saints  in  heaven,  had  I wisely  improved  the  time 
which  was  given  me  on  earth,  given  me  on  purpose 
to  prepare  for  death  and  heaven  ! Then  they  will 
for  ever  curse  themselves,  and  call  themselves  eternal 
fools,  for  hearkening  to  the  temptations  of  flesh  and 
sense,  which  wasted  their  time,  and  deprived  them 
of  eternal  treasures. 

3.  Another  of  the  terrors  which  will  seize  upon 
impenitent  sinners  at  the  end  of  time  will  be  end- 
less despair  of  the  recovery  of  lost  time,  and  of 
those  blessings  whose  hope  is  for  ever  lost  with  it. 
There  are  blessings  offered  to  sinful  miserable  men 
in  time  which  will  never  be  offered  in  eternity,  nor 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


11 


put  within  their  reach  for  ever.  The  gospel  hath 
no  calls,  no  invitations,  no  encouragements,  no  pro- 
mises for  the  dead,  who  have  lost  and  wasted  their 
time,  and  are  perished  without  hope.  The  region 
of  sorrows,  whither  the  Judge  shall  drive  impenitent 
sinners,  is  a dark  and  desolate  place,  where  light 
and  hope  can  never  come : but  fruitless  repentance 
with  horrors  and  agonies  of  soul,  and  doleful  despair, 
reign  through  that  world  without  one  gleam  of  light 
or  hope,  or  one  moment  of  intermission.  Then  will 
despairing  sinners  gnaw  their  tongues  for  anguish 
of  heart,  and  curse  themselves  with  long  execrations, 
and  curse  their  fellow-sinners  who  assisted  them  to 
waste  their  time,  and  to  ruin  their  souls. 

4.  The  last  terror  I shall  mention  which  will  at- 
tend sinners  at  the  end  of  time  is,  an  eternal  suf- 
fering of  all  the  painful  and  dismal  consequences 
of  lost  and  wasted  time.  Not  one  smile  from  the 
face  of  God  for  ever,  not  one  glimpse  of  love  or 
mercy  in  his  countenance,  not  one  word  of  grace 
from  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  once  the  chief  messen- 
ger of  the  grace  of  God,  not  one  favourable  regard 
from  all  the  holy  saints  and  angels ; but  the  fire  and 
brimstone  burn  without  end,  and  the  smoke  of  this 
their  torment  will  ascend  for  ever  and  ever  before  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

Who  knows  how  keen  and  bitter  will  be  the  ago- 
nies of  an  awakened  conscience,  and  the  vengeance 
of  a provoked  God  in  that  world  of  misery  ! How 
will  you  cry  out,  O what  a wretch  have  I been  to 
renounce  all  the  advices  of  a compassionate  father, 
when  he  would  have  persuaded  me  to  improve 
the  time  of  youth  and  health ! Alas,  I turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  his  advice,  and  now  time  is  lost,  and 
my  hopes  of  mercy  for  ever  perished.  How  have 
I treated  with  ridicule,  among  my  vain  companions, 
the  compassionate  and  pious  counsels  of  my  aged 
parents  who  laboured  for  my  salvation  ! How  have 


12 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


I scorned  the  tender  admonitions  of  a mother,  and 
wasted  that  time  in  sinning  and  sensuality  which 
should  have  been  spent  in  prayer  and  devotion ! 
And  God  turns  a deaf  ear  to  my  cries  now,  and  is 
regardless  of  all  my  groan ings.  This  sort  of  an- 
guish of  spirit,  with  loud  and  cutting  complaints, 
would  destroy  life  itself,  and  these  inward  terrors 
would  sting  their  souls  to  death,  if  there  could  be  any 
such  thing  as  dying  there.  Such  sighs  and  sobs 
and  bitter  agonies  would  break  their  hearts  and  dis- 
solve their  being,  if  the  heart  could  break,  or  the 
being  could  be  dissolved : but  immortality  is  their 
dreadful  portion,  immortality  of  sorrows  to  punish 
their  wicked  and  wilful  abuse  of  time  and  that  waste 
of  the  means  of  grace  they  were  guilty  of  in  their 
mortal  state. 

I proceed  in  the  last  place  to  consider  what  re- 
flections may  be  made  on  this  discourse,  or  what 
are  some  of  the  profitable  lessons  to  be  learnt  from 
it. 

Refl.  1.  We  may  learn  with  great  evidence  the 
inestimable  worth  and  value  of  time,  and  particu- 
larly to  those  who  are  not  prepared  for  eternity. 
Every  hour  you  live  is  an  hour  longer  given  you  to 
prepare  for  dying,  and  to  save  a soul.  If  you  were 
but  apprized  of  the  worth  of  your  own  souls,  you 
would  better  know  the  worth  of  days  and  hours,  and 
of  every  passing  moment;  for  they  are  given  to  se- 
cure your  immortal  interest,  and  save  a soul  from 
everlasting  misery.  And  you  would  be  zealous  and 
importunate  in  the  prayer  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God, 
upon  a meditation  of  the  shortness  of  life.  Ps.  xc.  12. 
“ So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  as  to  apply  our 
hearts  to  wisdom;”  that  is,  so  teach  ns  to  consider 
how  few  and  uncertain  our  days  are,  that  we  may  be 
truly  wise  in  preparing  for  the  end  of  them. 

It  is  a matter  of  vast  importance  to  be  ever  ready 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


13 


for  the  end  of  time,  ready  to  hear  this  awful  sentence 
confirmed  with  the  oath  of  the  glorious  angel,  that 
“ Time  shall  be  no  longer.’*  The  terrors  or  the  com- 
forts of  a dying  bed  depend  upon  it : the  solemn  and 
decisive  voice  of  judgment  depends  upon  it:  the  joys 
and  the  sorrows  of  a long  eternity  depend  upon  it: 
go  now,  careless  sinners,  and  in  the  view  of  such 
things  as  these,  go  and  trifle  away  time  as  you  have 
done  before;  time,  that  invaluable  treasure:  go  and 
venture  the  loss  of  your  souls,  and  the  hopes  of 
heaven  and  your  eternal  happiness,  in  wasting  away 
the  remnant  hours  or  moments  of  life;  but  remem- 
ber the  awful  voice  of  the  angel  is  hastening  toward 
you,  and  the  sound  is  just  breaking  in  upon  you,  that 
“Time  shall  be  no  longer.” 

Refl.  2.  A due  sense  of  time  hastening  to  its  period 
will  furnish  us  with  perpetual  new  occasions  of  holy 
meditation. 

Do  I observe  the  declining  day  and  the  setting  sun 
sinking  into  darkness?  so  declines  the  day  of  life, 
the  hours  of  labour,  and  the  season  of  grace  : O may 
I finish  my  appointed  work  with  honour  ere  the  light 
is  fled!  may  I improve  the  shining  hours  of  grace, 
ere  the  shadows  of  the  evening  overtake  me,  and  my 
time  of  working  is  no  more. 

Do  I see  the  moon  gliding  along  through  midnight, 
and  fulfilling  her  stages  in  the  dusky  sky?  This 
planet  also  is  measuring  out  my  life,  and  bringing 
the  number  of  my  months  to  their  end.  May  I be 
prepared  to  take  leave  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  bid 
adieu  to  these  visible  heavens,  and  all  the  twinkling 
glories  of  them  ! These  are  all  but  the  measurers  of 
my  time,  and  hasten  me  on  towards  eternity. 

Am  I walking  in  a garden  and  stand  still  to  ob- 
serve the  slow  motion  of  the  shadow  upon  a dial  there? 
It  passes  over  the  hour-lines  with  an  imperceptible 
progress,  yet  it  will  touch  the  last  line  of  day-light 
shortly : so  my  hours  and  my  moments  move  onward 

n ' 


14 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


with  a silent  pace;  but  they  will  arrive  with  cer- 
tainty at  the  last  limit,  how  heedless  soever  I am  of 
their  motion,  and  how  thoughtless  soever  I may  be 
of  the  improvement  of  time,  or  of  the  end  of  it. 

Does  a new  year  commence,  and  the  first  morning 
of  it  dawn  upon  me?  Let  me  remember  that  the  last 
year  was  finished,  and  gone  over  my  head,  in  order 
to  make  way  for  the  entrance  of  the  present.  I have 
one  year  the  less  to  travel  through  this  world,  and 
to  fulfil  the  various  services  of  a travelling  state : 
may  my  diligence  in  duty  be  double  since  the  num- 
ber of  my  appointed  years  is  diminished. 

Do  I find  a new  birth-day  in  my  survey  of  the 
calendar,  the  day  wherein  I entered  upon  the  stage 
of  mortality,  and  was  born  into  this  world  of  sins, 
frailties  and  sorrows,  in  order  to  my  probation  for  a 
better  state?  Blessed  Lord,  how  much  have  I spent 
already  of  this  mortal  life,  this  season  of  my  proba- 
tion, and  how  little  am  I prepared  for  that  happier 
world?  how  unready  for  my  dying  moment?  I am 
hastening  hourly  to  the  end  of  the  life  of  man  which 
began  at  my  nativity;  am  I yet  born  of  God?  Have 
I begun  the  life  of  a saint?  Am  I prepared  for  that 
awful  day  which  shall  determine  the  number  of  my 
months  on  earth  ? Am  I fit  to  be  born  into  the  world 
of  spirits  through  the  strait  gate  of  death  ? Am  I re- 
newed in  all  the  powers  of  my  nature,  and  made 
meet  to  enter  into  that  unseen  world,  where  there 
shall  be  no  more  of  these  revolutions  of  days  and 
years,  but  one  eternal  day  fills  up  all  the  space  with 
divine  pleasure,  or  one  eternal  night  with  long  and 
deplorable  distress  and  darkness  ? 

When  I see  a friend  expiring,  or  the  corpse  of  my 
neighbour  conveyed  to  the  grave,  alas!  their  months 
and  minutes  are  all  determined,  and  the  seasons  of 
their  trial  are  finished  for  ever:  they  are  gone  to 
their  eternal  home,  and  the  estate  of  their  souls  is 
fixed  unchangeably:  the  angel  that  has  sworn  their 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


15 


c<  time  shall  be  no  longer/’  has  concluded  their  hopes, 
or  has  finished  their  fears,  and  according  to  the  rules 
of  righteous  judgment,  has  dediced  their  misery  or 
happiness  for  a long  immortality.  Take  this  warn- 
ing, O my  soul,  and  think  of  thy  own  removal. 

Are  we  standing  in  the  church-yard,  paying  the 
last  honours  to  the  relics  of  our  friends  ? what  a num- 
ber of  hillocks  of  death  appear  all  around  us ! what 
are  the  tomb-stones  but  memorials  of  the  inhabitants 
of  that  town,  to  inform  us  of  the  period  of  all  their 
lives,  and  to  point  out  the  day  when  it  was  said  to 
each  of  them,  your  “time  shall  be  no  longer.”  O 
may  I readily  learn  this  important  lesson,  that  my 
turn  is  hastening  too;  such  a little  hillock  shall  shortly 
arise  for  me  on  some  unknown  spot  of  ground;  it 
shall  cover  this  flesh  and  these  bones  of  mine  in 
darkness,  and  shall  hide  them  from  the  light  of  the 
sun,  and  from  the  sight  of  man,  till  the  heavens  be 
no  more. 

Perhaps  some  kind  surviving  friend  may  engrave 
my  name  with  the  number  of  my  days  upon  a plain 
funeral  stone,  without  ornament,  and  below  envy; 
there  shall  my  tomb  stand  among  the  rest  as  a fresh 
monument  of  the  frailty  of  nature  and  the  end  of  time. 
It  is  possible  some  friendly  foot  may  now  and  then 
visit  the  place  of  my  repose,  and  some  tender  eye 
may  bedew  the  cold  memorial  with  a tear : one  or 
another  of  my  old  acquaintance  may  possibly  attend 
there  to  learn  the  silent  lecture  of  mortality  from  my 
grave-stone,  which  my  lips  are  now  preaching  aloud 
to  the  world:  and  if  love  and  sorrow  should  reach 
so  far,  perhaps  while  his  soul  is  melting  in  his  eye- 
lids, and  his  voice  scarce  finds  an  utterance,  he  will 
point  with  his  finger  and  show  his  companion  the 
month  and  the  day  of  my  decease.  O that  solemn, 
that  awful  day,  which  shall  finish  my  appointed 
time  on  earth,  and  put  a full  period  to  all  the  designs 


16 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


of  my  heart,  and  all  the  labours  of  my  tongue  and 
pen! 

Think,  O my  soul,  that  while  friends  or  strangers 
are  engaged  on  that  spot,  and  reading  the  day  of  thy 
departure  hence,  thou  wilt  be  fixed  under  a decisive 
and  unchangeable  sentence,  rejoicing  in  the  rewards 
of  time  well-improved,  or  suffering  the  long  sorrows 
which  shall  attend  the  abuse  of  it,  in  an  unknown 
world  of  happiness  or  misery. 

Refl.  3.  We  may  learn  from  this  discourse  the 
stupid  folly  and  madness  of  those  who  are  terribly 
afraid  of  the  end  of  time  whensoever  they  think  of  it, 
and  yet  they  know  not  what  to  do  with  their  time  as 
it  runs  off  daily  and  hourly.  They  find  their  souls 
unready  for  death,  and  yet  they  live  from  year  to 
year  without  any  farther  preparation  for  dying : they 
waste  away  their  hours  of  leisure  in  mere  trifling, 
they  lose  their  seasons  of  grace,  their  means  and  op- 
portunities of  salvation  in  a thoughtless  and  shameful 
manner,  as  though  they  had  no  business  to  employ 
them  in;  they  live  as  though  they  had  nothing  to 
do  with  all  their  time  but  to  eat  and  drink,  and  be 
easy  and  merry.  From  the  rising  to  the  setting 
sun  you  find  them  still  in  pursuit  of  impertinencies; 
they  waste  God’s  sacred  time  as  well  as  their  own, 
either  in  a lazy,  indolent,  and  careless  humour,  or  in 
following  after  vanity,  sin  and  madness,  while  the 
end  of  time  is  hastening  upon  them. 

What  multitudes  are  there  of  the  race  of  Adam, 
both  in  higher  and  in  lower  ranks,  who  are  ever  com- 
plaining they  want  leisure:  and  when  they  have  a 
release  from  business  for  one  day  or  one  hour,  they 
hardly  know  what  to  do  with  that  idle  day,  or  how 
to  lay  out  one  of  the  hours  of  it,  for  any  valuable  pur- 
pose? Those  in  higher  station  and  richer  circum- 
stances have  most  of  their  time  at  their  own  command 
and  disposal:  but  by  their  actual  disposal  of  it  you 
plainly  see  they  know  not  what  it  is  good  for,  nor 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


17 


what  use  to  make  of  it;  they  are  quite  at  a loss  how 
to  get  rid  of  this  tedious  thing  called  time,  which  lies 
daily  as  a burden  on  their  hands.  Indeed,  if  their 
head  ache,  or  their  face  grow  pale,  and  a physician 
feel  their  pulse  or  look  wishfully  on  their  coun- 
tenance; and  especially  if  he  should  shake  his  head, 
or  tell  them  his  fears,  that  they  will  not  hold  out  long, 
what  surprise  of  soul,  what  agonies  and  terrors  seize 
them  on  a sudden,  for  fear  of  the  end  of  time!  for 
they  are  conscious  how  unfit  they  are  for  eternity: 
yet  when  the  pain  vanishes,  and  they  feel  health 
again,  they  are  as  much  at  a loss  as  ever  what  to  do 
with  the  remnant  of  life. 

O the  ^painful  and  unhappy  ignorance  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  men,  that  are  sent  hither  on  a trial 
for  eternity,  and  yet  know  not  how  to  pass  away  time  ? 
they  know  not  how  to  wear  out  life  and  get  soon 
enough  to  the  end  of  the  day ; they  doze  their  hours 
away,  or  saunter  from  place  to  place,  without  any 
design  or  meaning:  they  inquire  of  every  one  they 
meet,  what  they  shall  do  to  kill  time,  (as  the  French 
phrase  is,)  because  they  cannot  spend  it  fast  enough; 
they  are  perpetually  calling  in  the  assistance  of  others 
to  laugh  or  sport,  or  trifle  with  them,  and  to  help 
them  off  with  this  dead  weight  of  time,  while  at  the 
same  moment,  if  you  do  but  mention  the  end  of  time, 
they  are  dreadfully  afraid  of  coming  near  it.  What 
folly  and  distraction  is  that?  What  sottish  inconsis- 
tency is  found  in  the  heart  and  practice  of  sinful  man? 
Eccles.  ix.  3.  “The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full 
of  evil : madness  is  in  their  heart  while  they  live,  and 
after  that  they  go  down  to  the  dead.” 

O that  these  loiterers  would  once  consider  that  time 
loiters  not;  days  and  hours,  months  and  years  loiter 
not;  each  of  them  flies  away  with  swiftest  wing,  as 
fast  as  succession  admits  of,  and  bears  them  onward 
to  the  goal  of  eternity.  If  they  delay  and  linger 
among  toys  and  shadows,  time  knows  no  delay;  and 

3* 


18 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


they  will  one  day  learn  by  bitter  experience  what 
substantial,  important,  and  eternal  blessings,  they 
have  lost  by  their  criminal  and  shameful  waste  of 
time.  The  apostle  Peter  assures  them,  2 Pet.  ii.  3, 
Though  they  slumber  and  sleep  in  a lethargy  of  sin, 
so  that  you  cannot  awaken  them,  yet  “their  judgment 
lingereth  not,  and  their  damnation  slumbereth  not.” 
The  awful  moment  is  hasting  upon  them  which  shall 
teach  them  terribly  the  true  value  of  time;  then 
they  would  give  all  the  golden  pleasures,  and  the 
riches  and  grandeur  of  this  world,  to  purchase  one 
short  day  more  or  one  hour  of  time,  wherein  they 
might  repent  and  return  to  God,  and  get  within  the 
reach  of  hope  and  salvation:  but  time  and  salvation 
and  hope  are  all  vanished  and  fled  and  gone  out  of 
their  reach  for  ever. 

Refl.  IV.  Learn  from  such  meditations  as  these 
the  rich  mercy  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  in  giving  us  so  long  a warning  before 
he  swears  that  time  shall  be  no  more.  Every  stroke 
of  sickness  is  a warning-piece  that  life  is  coming  to 
its  period : every  death  amongst  our  friends  and  ac- 
quaintance, is  another  tender  and  painful  admonition 
that  our  death  also  is  at  hand : the  end  of  every  week 
and  every  dawning  sabbath,  is  another  warning; 
every  sermon  we  hear  of  the  shortness  of  time  and 
the  uncertainty  of  life,  is  a fresh  intimation,  that  the 
great  angel  will  shortly  pronounce  a period  upon  all 
our  time.  How  inexcusable  shall  we  be  if  we  turn  the 
deaf  ear  to  all  these  warnings!  St.  Peter  advises  us 
to  “count  the  long-suffering  of  the  Lord  for  salva- 
tion,” 2 Pet.  iii.  15,  and  to  secure  our  eternal  safety, 
and  our  escape  from  hell  during  the  season  of  his 
lengthened  grace. 

Alas!  how  long  has  Jesus  and  his  mercy,  and  his 
gospel,  waited  on  you,  before  you  began  to  think  of 
the  things  of  your  everlasting  peace?  And  if  you 
are  now  solemnly  awakened,  yet  how  long  has  he 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


19 


waited  on  you  with  fresh  admonitions,  and  with 
special  providences,  with  mercies  and  judgments, 
with  promises  and  invitations  of  grace,  with  threaten- 
ings  and  words  of  terror,  and  with  the  whispers  and 
advices  of  his  own  Spirit,  since  you  began  to  see  your 
danger?  And  after  all  have  you  yet  sincerely  re- 
pented of  sin?  have  you  yet  received  the  offered 
grace?  have  you  given  up  yourselves  to  the  Lord  and 
laid  hold  of  his  salvation?  2 Cor.  vi.  2.  “This  is  the 
accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation : to-day,  if 
you  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.”  Heb. 
iii.  7,  8,  &c.  It  is  never  said,  through  all  the  Bible, 
that  “to-morrow  is  the  day  of  grace,  or  to-morrow 
is  the  time  of  acceptance;”  it  is  the  present  hour 
only  that  is  offered.  Every  day  and  every  hour  is 
a mercy  of  unknown  importance  to  sinful  men.  It 
is  a mercy,  O sinners,  that  you  awaked  not  this  morn- 
ing in  hell,  and  that  you  were  not  fixed  without 
remedy  beyond  the  reach  of  hope  and  mercy. 

Refl.  Y.  Learn  from  this  discourse  what  a very 
useful  practice  it  would  be  to  set  ourselves  often  be- 
fore-hand  as  at  the  end  of  time,  to  imagine  ourselves 
just  under  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  this  mighty  angel, 
or  at  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  and  to  call  our  souls  to 
a solemn  account  in  what  manner  we  have  passed 
away  all  our  leisure  time  hitherto:  I mean,  all  that 
time  which  hath  not  been  laid  out  in  the  necessities 
of  the  natural  life  for  its  support,  and  its  needful  re- 
freshment, or  in  the  due  and  proper  employments 
of  the  civil  life : both  these  are  allowed  and  required 
by  the  God  of  nature,  and  the  God  of  providence,  who 
governs  the  world;  but  what  hast  thou  done,  O man; 
O woman,  what  hast  thou  done  with  all  the  hours  of 
leisure,  which  might  have  been  laid  out  on  far  better 
employments,  and  to  far  nobler  purposes!  Give  me 
leave  to  enter  into  particulars  a little,  for  generals  do 
but  seldom  convince  the  mind,  or  awaken  the  con- 
science, or  affect  the  heart. 


20 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


1.  Have  you  not  slumbered  or  squandered  away  too 
much  time  without  any  useful  purpose  or  design  at 
all?  How  many  are  there,  that  when  they  have 
morning  hours  on  their  hands,  can  pass  them  off  on 
their  beds,  and  lose  and  forget  time  in  “a  little  more 
sleep,  and  a little  more  slumber a few  impertinen- 
ces with  breakfast  and  dressing,  wear  out  the  morn- 
ing without  God.  And  how  many  afternoon  and 
evening  hours  are  worn  away  in  such  sauntering  idle- 
ness as  I have  described,  that  when  the  night  comes 
they  cannot  review  one  half  hour’s  useful  work,  from 
the  dawn  of  the  morning  to  the  hour  of  rest.  Time 
is  gone  and  vanished,  and  as  they  knew  not  what  to 
do  with  it  while  it  was  present,  so  now  it  is  past,  they 
know  not  what  they  have  done  with  it : they  keep  no 
account  of  it,  and  are  never  prepared  to  come  to  a 
reckoning:  but  will  the  great  Judge  of  all  take  this 
for  an  answer  to  such  a solemn  inquiry? 

2.  Have  you  never  laid  out  much  more  time  than 
was  needful  in  “recreations  and  pleasures  of  sense?” 
Recreations  are  not  unlawful,  so  far  as  they  are  ne- 
cessary and  proper  to  relieve  the  fatigue  of  the  spirits, 
when  they  are  tired  with  business  or  labour,  and  to 
prepare  for  new  labours  and  new  businesses:  but 
have  we  not  followed  sports  without  due  limitation? 
Hath  not  some  of  that  very  time  been  spent  in  them 
which  should  have  been  laid  out  in  preparing  for 
death  and  eternity,  and  in  seeking  things  of  far 
higher  importance? 

3.  Have  you  not  wasted  too  much  time  in  your 
frequent  clubs,  and  what  you  call  good  company,  and 
in  places  of  public  resort?  Has  not  the  tavern  or 
the  coffee-house  or  the  ale-house,  seen  and  known 
you  from  hour  to  hour  for  a whole  evening,  and  that 
sometimes  before  the  trade  or  labours  of  the  day 
should  have  been  ended?  And  when  your  Bible 
and  your  closet,  or  the  devotion  of  your  family,  have 
sometimes  called  upon  your  conscience,  have  you  not 
turned  the  deaf  ear  to  them  all? 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


21 


4.  Have  not  useless  and  impertinent  visits  been 
made  to  no  good  purpose,  or  been  prolonged  beyond 
all  necessity  or  improvement?  when  your  conversa- 
tion runs  low  even  to  the  dregs,  and  both  you  and 
your  friends  have  been  at  a loss  what  to  say  next, 
and  knew  not  how  to  fill  up  the  time,  yet  the  visit 
must  go  on  and  time  shall  be  wasted.  Sometimes 
the  wind  and  the  weather,  and  twenty  insignifican- 
ces, or  (what  is  much  worse)  scandal  of  persons  or 
families  have  come  in  to  your  relief,  that  there  might 
not  be  too  long  a silence;  but  not  one  word  of  God 
or  goodness  could  find  room  to  enter  in  and  relieve 
the  dull  hour.  Is  none  of  this  time  ever  to  be  ac- 
counted for?  and  will  it  sound  well  in  the  ears  of  the 
great  Judge?  We  ran  to  these  sorry  topics,  these 
slanderous  and  backbiting  stories,  because  we  could 
not  tell  what  to  talk  of,  and  we  knew  not  how  to 
spend  our  time. 

5.  Have  you  not  been  guilty  of  frequent  and  even 
perpetual  delays  or  neglects  of  your  proper  neces- 
sary business  in  the  civil  life,  or  in  the  solemn  duties 
of  religion,”  by  busying  yourselves  in  some  other 
needless  thing  under  this  pretence,  It  is  time  enough 
yet? 

Have  you  learnt  that  important  and  eternal  rule  of 
prudence,  “Never  delay  till  to-morrow  what  may  be 
done  to-day;  never  put  off  till  the  next  hour  what 
may  be  done  in  this?’ 7 Have  you  not  often  experi- 
enced your  own  disappointment  and  folly  by  these 
delays?  and  yet  have  you  ever  so  repented  as  to  learn 
to  mend  them?  Solomon  tells  us,  Eccles.  iii.  1, 
“There  is  a time  for  every  purpose  and  every  work 
under  the  sun a proper  and  agreeable  time  for  every 
lawful  work  of  nature  and  life;  and  it  is  the  business  and 
care  of  a wise  man  to  do  proper  work  in  proper  time; 
but  when  we  have  let  slip  the  proper  season,  how 
often  have  we  been  utterly  disappointed?  have  we 
not  sustained  great  inconvenience  ? and  sometimes  it 
has  so  happened  that  we  could  never  do  that  work  or 


22 


THE  END  OF  TTME. 


business  at  all,  because  another  proper  season  for  it 
has  never  offered ; time  hath  been  no  more.  Felix 
put  off  his  discourse  with  Paul  about  the  faith  of 
Christ  and  righteousness  and  judgment  to  come, 
to  a more  convenient  time,  which  probably  never 
came.  Acts  xxiv.  25.  And  the  word  of  God  teaches 
us,  that  the  angel  in  my  text  is  ready  to  swear,  if  we 
neglect  our  salvation  in  the  present  day  of  grace, 
that  time  shall  be  no  longer. 

Here  permit  me  to  put  in  a short  word  to  those 
who  have  lost  much  time  already. 

O,  my  friends,  begin  now  to  do  what  in  you  lies 
to  regain  it  by  double  diligence  in  the  matters  of 
your  salvation,  lest  the  voice  of  the  archangel  should 
finish  your  time  of  trial,  and  call  you  to  judgment 
before  you  are  prepared. 

What  here  lies  before  you  for  this  double  improve- 
ment, God  only  knows : the  remnant  of  the  measure 
of  your  days  is  with  him,  and  every  evening  the 
number  is  diminished  : let  not  the  rising  sun  upbraid 
you  with  continual  negligence.  Remember  your 
former  abuses  of  hours  and  months  and  years,  in  folly 
and  sin,  or  at  best  in  vanity  and  trifling : let  these 
thoughts  of  your  past  conduct  lie  with  such  an  effec- 
tual weight  on  your  hearts  as  to  keep  you  ever  vigo- 
rous in  present  duty.  Since  you  have  been  so  lazy 
and  loitering  in  your  Christian  race  in  time  past, 
take  larger  steps  daily,  and  stretch  all  the  powers  of 
your  souls  to  hasten  towards  the  crown  and  the  prize. 
Hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  in  his  word  with  strong- 
er attention  and  zeal  to  profit ; pray  to  a long-suf- 
fering God  with  double  fervency ; cry  aloud  and  give 
him  no  rest,  till  your  sinful  soul  is  changed  into  peni- 
tence and  renewed  to  holiness,  till  you  have  some 
good  evidences  of  your  sincere  love  to  God  and  un- 
feigned faith  in  his  Son  Jesus.  Never  be  satisfied 
till  you  are  come  to  a well  grounded  hope  through 
grace,  that  God  is  your  friend,  your  reconciled 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


23 


Father,  that  when  days  and  months  are  no  more, 
you  may  enter  into  the  region  of  everlasting  light 
and  peace. 

But  I proceed  to  the  last  general  remark.  Learn 
the  unspeakable  happiness  of  those  who  have  im- 
proved time  well,  and  who  wait  for  the  end  of  time 
with  Christian  hope.  They  are  not  afraid,  or  at 
least  they  need  not  be  afraid  of  the  sentence  nor  the 
oath  of  this  mighty  angel,  when  he  lifts  up  his  hand 
to  heaven  and  swears  with  a loud  voice,  there  shall 
be  time  no  more. 

O blessed  creatures,  who  have  so  happily  im- 
proved the  time  of  life  and  day  of  grace,  as  to  obtain 
the  restoration  of  the  image  of  God  in  some  degree 
on  their  souls,  and  to  recover  the  favour  of  God 
through  the  gospel  of  Christ,  for  which  end  time 
was  bestowed  upon  them;  they  have  reviewed  their 
follies  with  shame  in  the  land  of  hope;  they  have 
mourned  and  repented  of  sin  ere  the  season  of  repen- 
tance was  past,  and  are  become  new  creatures,  and 
their  lips  and  their  lives  declare  the  divine  change. 
They  have  made  preparation  for  death,  for  which 
purpose  life  and  time  were  given.  Happy  souls  in- 
deed, who  have  so  valued  time  as  not  to  let  it  run  off 
in  trifles,  but  have  obtained  treasures  more  valuable 
than  that  time  which  is  gone,  even  the  riches  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  and  the  hopes  of  an  eternal  in- 
heritance in  glory. 

Happy  such  souls  indeed  when  time  is  no  more 
with  them ! their  happiness  begins  when  the  dura- 
tion of  their  mortal  life  is  finished.  Let  us  survey 
this  their  happiness  in  a few  particulars. 

The  time  of  their  darknesses  and  difficulties  is  no 
longer:  the  time  of  painful  ignorance  and  error  is 
come  to  an  end  : you  shall  wander  no  more  in  mistake 
and  folly ; you  shall  behold  all  things  in  the  light  of 
God,  and  see  him  face  to  face,  who  is  the  original 
beauty  and  the  eternal  truth.  You  shall  see  him 


24 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 


without  vails  and  shadows,  without  the  reflecting 
glass  of  his  word  and  ordinances,  which  at  best  give 
us  but  a faint  glimpse  of  him,  either  in  his  nature 
or  wisdom,  his  power  or  goodness.  You  shall  see 
him  in  himself,  and  in  his  Son  Jesus,  the  brightest 
and  fairest  image  of  the  Father,  and  “shall  know 
him  as  you  are  known,’*  1 Cor.  xiii.  10,  12. 

There  is  no  more  time  for  temptation  and  danger: 
when  once  you  are  got  beyond  the  limits  of  this  visible 
world,  and  all  the  enticing  objects  of  flesh  and  sense, 
there  shall  be  no  more  hazard  of  your  salvation,  no 
more  doubting  and  distressing  fears  about  your  in- 
terest in  your  Father’s  love,  or  in  the  salvation  of 
his  beloved  Son.  There  is  no  more  time  nor  place 
for  sin  to  inhabit  in  you;  the  lease  of  its  habitation 
in  your  mortal  body  must  end,  when  the  body  itself 
falls  into  the  dust : you  shall  feel  no  more  of  its  power- 
ful and  defiling  operations  either  in  heart  or  life  for 
ever. 

The  time  of  conflict  with  your  spiritual  adversaries 
is  no  longer.  There  is  no  more  warfare  betwixt  the 
flesh  and  spirit,  no  more  combat  with  the  world  and 
the  devil,  who  by  a thousand  ways  have  attempted 
to  deceive  you  and  to  bear  you  off  from  your  heavenly 
hope.  Your  warfare  is  accomplished,  your  victory 
is  complete;  you  are  made  overcomers  through  him 
that  has  loved  you.  Death  is  the  last  enemy  to  be 
overcome;  the  sting  of  it  is  already  taken  away,  and 
you  have  now  finished  the  conquest,  and  are  assured 
of  the  crown.  1 Cor.  xv.  56,  57. 

The  time  of  your  distance  and  absence  from  God 
is  no  more : the  time  of  coldness  and  indifference  and 
the  fearful  danger  of  backsliding  is  no  more;  you 
shall  be  made  as  “pillars  in  the  temple  of  your  God, 
and  shall  go  no  more  out:”  he  shall  love  you  like  a 
God,  and  kindle  the  flames  of  your  love  to  so  intense  a 
degree  as  is  only  known  to  angels  and  to  the  spirits 
of  the  just  made  perfect. 

There  is  no  more  time  for  you  to  be  vexed  with 


25 


THE  END  OF  TIME. 

the  “ society  of  sinful  creatures:”  your  spirits  within 
you  shall  be  no  more  ruffled  and  disquieted  with  the 
teazirig  conversation  of  the  wicked,  nor  shall  you  be 
interrupted  in  your  holy  and  heavenly  exercises  by 
any  of  the  enemies  of  God  and  his  grace. 

The  time  of  your  painful  labours  and  sufferings 
is  no  more.  Rev.  xiv.  13:  “ Blessed  are  the  dead  that 
die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  all  their  labours” 
that  carry  toil  or  fatigue  with  them : there  shall  be  no 
more  complaints  nor  groans,  no  sorrow  nor  crying: 
the  springs  of  grief  are  for  ever  dried  up,  neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain  in  the  flesh  or  the  spirit. 
“ God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  your  eyes,”  and 
death  shall  be  no  more,  Rev.  xxi.  4. 

“ It  is  finished,”  said  our  blessed  Lord  on  the  cross : 
it  is  finished,  may  every  one  of  his  followers  say  at 
the  hour  of  death  and  at  the  end  of  time : my  sins  and 
follies,  my  distresses  and  my  sufferings  are  finished 
for  ever,  and  the  mighty  angel  swears  to  it  that  the 
time  of  these  evils  is  no  longer:  they  are  vanished, 
and  shall  never  return.  O happy  souls,  who  have 
been  so  wise  to  count  the  short  and  uncertain  number 
of  your  days  on  earth,  as  to  make  an  early  provision 
for  a removal  to  heaven.  Blessed  are  you  above  all 
the  powers  of  present  thought  and  language.  Days 
and  months  and  years,  and  all  these  short  and  painful 
periods  of  time,  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  a long  and 
blissful  eternity;  the  stream  of  time  which  has  run 
between  the  banks  of  thisirnmortal  life,  and  bore  you 
along  amidst  many  dangerous  rocks  of  temptation, 
fear  and  sorrow,  shall  launch  you  out  into  the  ocean 
of  pleasures  which  have  no  period : those  felicities 
must  be  everlasting,  for  duration  has  no  limit  there; 
time  with  all  its  measures  shall  be  no  more.  Amen. 


4 


v . "!  ' > 


* 

. 

A . - f 


- 7/7 

* 


( 27  ) 


DISCOURSE  II. 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN  DYING  IN  PEACE, 

A FUNERAL  SERMON 

ON  THE  DEATH  OF  MRS.  SARAH  ABNEY. 

It  is  an  awful  providence  which  hath  lately 
removed  from  among  us  a young  person  well 
known  to  most  of  you,  whose  agreeable  temper  and 
conduct  had  gained  the  esteem  of  all  her  acquaint- 
ance, whose  constitution  of  body,  together  with  the 
furniture  of  her  mind  and  circumstances  in  the  world, 
concurred  to  promise  many  future  years  of  life  and 
usefulness.  But  all  that  is  born  of  the  race  of  man 
is  frail  and  mortal,  and  all  that  is  done  by  the  hand 
of  God  is  wise  and  holy.  We  mourn,  and  we  sub- 
mit in  silence.  Yet  the  providence  hath  a voice  in 
it,  and  the  friends  of  the  deceased  are  very  solicitous 
that  such  an  unexpected  and  instructive  appearance 
of  death  might  be  religiously  improved  to  the  benefit 
of  the  living.  For  this  end  I am  desired  to  entertain 
you  at  present  with  some  meditations  on  those  words 
of  our  Saviour,  which  you  read  in 

LUKE  XII.  37. 

Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord , when  he  cometh , shall 
find  watching. 

Vmiious  and  well-chosen  are  those  parables, 
whereby  our  Saviour  gave  warning  to  his  disci- 


28 


TIIE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


pies,  that  when  he  was  departed  from  this  world, 
they  should  ever  be  upon  their  guard,  and  always 
in  a readiness  to  receive  him  at  his  return;  because 
he  would  come  on  a sudden  and  in  such  an  hour  as 
they  thought  not,  to  demand  an  account  of  their 
behaviour,  and  to  distribute  his  recompenses  accord- 
ing to  their  works.  There  are  two  of  these  parables 
in  this  chapter;  but  to  enter  into  a detail  of  all  the 
particular  metaphors  which  relate  to  this  one  whence 
I have  borrowed  my  text,  would  be  too  tedious  here, 
and  would  spend  too  much  of  the  present  hour. 
Without  any  longer  preface,  therefore,  I shall  apply 
myself  to  improve  the  words  to  our  spiritual  profit 
in  the  following  method : 

I.  I shall  inquire  what  is  meant  by  the  coming 
of  Christ  in  the  text,  and  how  it  may  be  properly 
applied  to  our  present  purpose,  or  the  hour  of 
death. 

II.  I shall  consider  what  is  implied  in  the  watch- 
fulness which  our  Saviour  recommends. 

III.  I shall  propose  some  considerations  which 
will  discover  the  blessedness  of  a watchful  soul  in  a 
dying  hour. 

IV.  I shall  add  some  practical  remarks. 

First,  Let  us  inquire  what  is  meant  by  the  coming 
of  Christ  in  my  text. 

The  coming  of  Christ  in  some  of  these  parables, 
may  have  reference  to  his  speedy  appearance  in  the 
course  of  his  providence  in  that  very  age,  to  judge 
and  punish  the  Jewish  nation,  to  destroy  their  city 
and  put  an  end  to  their  church  and  state,  for  their 
many  heinous  iniquities,  and  the  most  provoking 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


29 


crime  of  rejecting  and  crucifying  the  Son  of  God. 
But  these  words,  in  their  supreme  and  most  important 
sense,  always  point  to  the  glorious  appearance  of 
Christ  at  the  last  day,  when  he  shall  come  to  shut  up 
all  the  scenes  of  this  frail  life,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
present  world,  to  finish  all  the  works  of  this  mortal 
state,  and  to  decide  and  determine  the  eternal  states 
of  all  mankind  by  the  general  judgment. 

Yet  Christ  comes  to  each  of  us  in  “the  hour  of 
death  also,  for  he  hath  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death,” 
or  of  the  invisible  world,  Rev.  i.  18.  It  is  he  who 
appoints  the  very  moment  when  the  soul  shall  be 
dismissed  from  this  flesh;  he  opens  the  doors  of  the 
grave  for  the  dying  body,  and  he  is  Lord  of  the 
world  of  spirits,  and  lets  in  new  inhabitants  every 
minute  into  those  unseen  regions  of  immortal  sorrow 
or  immortal  peace. 

And  as  Christ  may  be  said  to  come  to  us  by  the 
message  or  summons  of  death,  so  the  many  solemn 
writings  and  commands  of  watchfulness  which  attend 
these  parables  of  Christ  have  been  usually  and  with 
good  reason  applied  to  the  hour  of  death  also,  for 
when  the  Lord  comes  to  shut  up  the  scene  of  each  of 
our  lives,  our  works  are  then  finished,  our  last  day 
is  come,  and  the  world  is  then  at  an  end  with  us. 

Let  it  be  observed  also,  that  there  is  a farther 
parallel  between  the  day  of  the  general  judgment 
and  that  of  our  own  death:  the  one  will  as  certainly 
come  as  the  other,  but  the  time  when  Christ  will  come 
in  either  of  these  senses,  is  unknown  to  us  and  uncer- 
tain ; and  it  is  this  which  renders  the  duty  of  per- 
petual watchfulness  so  necessary  to  all  men.  The 
parable  assures  us  that  our  Lord  will  certainly  come, 
but  whether  at  the  second  or  third  watch,  whether 
at  midnight  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  near  the  morning, 
this  is  all  uncertainty;  yet  whensoever  he  comes,  he 
expects  we  should  have  our  loins  girded  like  servants 

4* 


30 


the  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


fit  for  business,  and  our  lamps  burning  to  attend  him 
at  the  door,  and  that  we  be  ready  to  receive  him,  as 
soon  as  he  knocks. 

Were  the  appointed  hour  of  judgment  or  of  death 
made  known  to  us  for  months  or  years  before-hand, 
we  should  be  ready  to  think  constant  watchfulness 
a very  needless  thing.  Mankind  would  persuade 
themselves  to  indulge  their  foolish  and  sinful  slumbers, 
and  only  take  care  to  rub  their  eyes  a little  and  bestir 
themselves  an  hour  or  two  before  this  awful  event : 
but  it  is  the  suddenness  and  uncertainty  of  the  com- 
ing of  Christ  to  all  mankind,  for  either  of  these  pur- 
poses, that  extends  the  charge  of  watchfulness  to  all 
men  as  well  as  to  the  apostles,  Mark  xiii.  37,  and  that 
calls  upon  us  aloud  to  keep  our  souls  ever  awake,  lest 
(as  our  Lord  there  expresses  it)  “ lest,  coming  sud- 
denly, he  should  find  us  sleeping.’’  And  remember 
this,  that  if  we  are  unprepared  to  meet  the  Lord  at 
death,  we  can  never  be  ready  when  he  comes  to  judg- 
ment : peace  and  blessedness  attend  the  watchful 
Christian  whensoever  his  Lord  cometh.  “Blessed 
is  that  servant,  whom,  when  his  Lord  cometh,  he 
shall  find  watching.’*  This  leads  me  to  the  second 
general  head. 

Secondly,  What  is  implied  in  watchfulness. 

Answer.  In  general  it  is  opposed  to  sleeping,  as 
I have  already  hinted,  in  Mark  xiii.  35,  36.  And 
in  the  language  of  scripture  as  well  as  in  common 
speech,  sleep  and  slumbering  denote  an  unprepared- 
ness to  receive  whatever  comes,  for  this  is  the  case 
with  those  who  are  asleep : on  the  other  hand,  watch- 
fulness is  a preparation  and  readiness  for  every  event, 
and  so  it  is  expressed  in  some  of  these  parables,  ver. 
40:  “Be  ye  therefore  ready.”  But  to  enter  into  a 
few  particulars. 

I.  There  is  a sleep  of  death,  Psalm  xiii.  3. 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


31 


Spiritual  death  as  well  as  natural  is  sometimes  called 
a sleep.  Such  is  the  case  of  a soul  “dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins,”  Eph.  v.  14.  Compared  with  ii.  1. 
“Awake,  thou  that sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light.” 

Watchfulness  therefore  implies  life,  a principle  of 
spiritual  life  in  the  soul : surely  those  who  are  dead 
in  sins  are  not  prepared  to  receive  their  Lord : he  is 
a perfect  stranger  to  them,  they  know  him  not,  they 
love  him  not,  they  obey  him  not;  and  a terrible  stran- 
ger he  will  be  if  he  comes  upon  them  before  they  are 
awake.  But  those  who  are  awakened  by  divine  grace 
into  a spiritual  life,  have  seen  something  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  tjaey  are  acquainted 
with  their  Lord,  they  love  him,  and  have  some  degree 
of  preparation  to  meet  their  Saviour  when  he  sum- 
mons them  to  leave  this  world.  This  is  therefore  a 
matter  of  highest  consequence,  that  we  awake  from  a 
state  of  sin  and  death,  that  we  be  made  alive  to  God, 
begin  the  Christian  life  and  set  upon  religion  in  good 
earnest,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  gospel,  before 
Christ  calls  us  away.  It  is  only  this  divine  life  begun 
in  us  that  can  secure  us  from  eternal  death:  though 
even  Christians  may  be  found  slumbering  in  other 
respects,  and  expose  themselves  to  painful  evils,  if  that 
hour  surprise  them  at  unawares. 

2.  There  is  a sleep  of  indolence  and  thoughtless- 
ness: when  a man  is  insensible  of  his  own  circum- 
stances and  too  careless  of  the  things  which  most 
concern  him,  we  say  the  man  is  asleep.  Such  a 
sleep  seems  to  be  upon  the  church  of  Israel,  Isa.  xxix. 
10,  “a  spirit  of  deep  sleep,”  when  the  law  which 
contained  the  great  things  of  God  and  their  salva- 
tion was  to  them  as  a sealed  book,  they  read  it  not, 
their  eyes  were  closed,  their  spiritual  senses  were 
bound  up.  Many  a Christian  who  hath  been  raised 
from  a death  in  sin  has  been  seized  with  this  criminal 
slumber,  and  has  had  the  image  of  death  come  again 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


3 2 

upon  him : he  has  grown  too  careless  and  uncon- 
cerned about  his  most  important  and  eternal  affairs, 
and  in  this  temper  he  hardly  knows  what  his  state  is 
towards  God,  nor  keeps  up  a lively  sense  or  notice  of 
divine  and  eternal  things  upon  his  spirit. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  sleep,  implies 
a holy  solicitude  and  diligence  to  know  our  own 
spiritual  state;  a consciousness  of  what  we  are;  a 
keeping  all  the  spiritual  senses  in  proper  exercise,  and 
maintaining  a lively  perception  of  divine  things.  It 
implies  an  acute,  painful  sense  of  indwelling  sin,  and 
the  irregular  propensities  of  the  heart,  a delightful 
relish  of  heavenly  objects,  frequent  thoughts  of  death 
and  eternity,  constant  waiting  for  those  awful  events, 
with  a quick  apprehension  and  resentment  of  all 
things  that  help  or  hinder  the  spiritual  life.  This 
is  the  character  of  a wakeful  Christian,  and  such  a 
one  is  ready  to  receive  his  returning  Lord. 

3.  There  is  a sleep  of  security  and  foolish  peace, 
when  a person  is  not  apprehensive  of  imminent  dan- 
ger, and  is  much  unguarded  against  it.  Such  was 
the  sleep  of  Jonah  in  the  storm,  of  Samson  on  the  lap 
of  Delilah  when  the  Philistines  were  upon  him,  and 
of  the  disciples,  when  Judas  and  the  band  of  soldiers 
were  just  ready  to  seize  their  Master.  This  is  the 
case  of  many  a slumbering  Christian;  he  is  not  upon 
his  guard  against  his  inward  lusts  and  passions,  nor 
against  those  outward  temptations  and  perils  to  which 
he  is  continually  exposed  while  he  dwells  in  flesh  and 
blood. 

Watchfulness  in  this  respect  is  when  a Christian 
hath  his  eyes  open  and  turns  them  round  on  every 
side  to  foresee  approaching  evil  and  prevent  it;  when 
he  is  prepared  for  every  assault  of  every  adversary, 
whether  sin  or  the  world,  whether  death  or  the  devil ; 
he  hath  his  spiritual  armour  girt  upon  him,  and  is 
ready  for  the  combat.  He  is  every  hour  guarding 
against  the  powers  of  the  flesh,  and  watching  against 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


33 


its  allurements  and  attractions,  lest  lie  be  defiled 
thereby  and  unfit  to  meet  his  returning  Lord:  he  is 
daily  loosening  his  heart  from  all  sensual  attachments, 
and  weaning  himself  from  the  world  and  creatures, 
because  he  knows  he  must  quickly  take  his  long 
farewell,  and  part  with  them  all  at  the  call  and  ap- 
pointment of  his  great  Master.  He  is  like  a sentinel 
upon  his  watch-tower,  ever  awake,  because  dangers 
stand  thick  around  him. 

4.  There  is  asleep  of  sloth  and  inactivity.  Prov. 
xix.  15:  “ Slothfulness  casteth  into  a deep  sleep.”  “A 
little  more  sleep,  a little  more  slumber,”  saith  the  lazy 
Christian,  who  “turns  upon  his  bed,  as  the  door  upon 
its  hinges,”  and  makes  no  progress  or  advance  in 
his  way  to  heaven.  We  are  sleepy  Christians  when 
we  do  little  for  God  or  our  own  souls  in  comparison 
of  the  vast  work  and  important  varieties  of  duty  that 
lie  upon  us!  when  our  zeal  is  cold,  and  our  efforts 
of  service  slight  and  feeble;  when  the  light  of  grace 
shines  so  dim  and  the  spark  of  holiness  is  so  covered 
with  ashes,  that  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  burn  or 
no.  As  in  natural  things  so  in  spiritual,  it  is  a diffi- 
cult matter  sometimes  to  distinguish  between  a dead 
man  and  a lethargic  sleeper. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  slumber,  is  a 
lively  and  vigorous  exercise  of  every  grace,  and  a 
diligent  attendance  on  every  duty,  both  towards  God 
and  man,  a constant  converse  with  heaven  by  daily 
devotion,  an  active  zeal  for  God  in  the  world,  a steady 
faith  in  the  promises,  a joyful  hope  of  heavenly  bless-  . 
edness,  alongingexpectation  of  tlmreturning  Saviour, 
which  makes  the  soul  stretch  out  the  wings  of  desire 
and  joy,  as  though  it  were  going  forth  to  meet  him. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  the  apostle  Peter’s  expres- 
sion, 2 Pet.  iii.  12:  “Looking  for,  and  hasting  to 
the  coming  of  the  day  of  God.” 

Put  all  these  things  together  now,  and  they  make 
up  the  character  of  a watchful  Christian  : he  is  awake 


34 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


from  the  sleep  of  death,  and  made  spiritually  alive; 
he  hath  the  work  of  vital  religion  begun  in  his 
heart. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  thoughtlessness  and 
indolence,  he  is  solicitous  to  know  his  own  state,  and 
hath  good  hope  through  grace ; he  lives  in  the  view  of 
heavenly  things,  and  keeps  his  eye  open  to  future  and 
eternal  glories. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  security,  he  is  upon 
his  guard  against  every  danger,  and  ready  to  receive 
every  alarm. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  slothful  ness,  and  is 
active  in  the  pursuit  of  the  glory  of  his  God,  and  his 
own  eternal  interest,  and  still  pressing  towards  the 
mark  to  obtain  the  prize.  This  is  the  soul  that  is 
ready  to  meet  a returning  Saviour,  and  to  receive  his 
Lord  when  he  comes,  either  at  the  hour  of  death,  or 
to  the  general  judgment. 

Thirdly,  Let  me  propose  some  special  considera- 
tions which  discover  the  blessedness  of  the  watchful 
Christian  at  the  hour  of  death. 

1.  Consideration.  That  moment  dispossesses  us 
of  every  enjoyment  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  divides  us 
from  the  commerce  of  this  visible  world;  but  the  wake- 
ful Christian  is  happy,  for  he  is  ready  to  be  thus 
divided  and  dispossessed.  Death  breaks  the  band  at 
once  between  us  and  all  the  sensible  things  round 
about  us,  by  dissolving  the  frame  of  this  body  which 
had  united  us  to  them;  and  the  watchful  saint  is 
content  to  have  that  bond  broken,  these  unions 
dissolved.  His  heart  and  soul  are  not  torn  away  from 
the  dear  delights  of  this  mortal  state  with  that  pain, 
anguish  and  horror  that  attend  the  sinner  when  death 
summons  him  off  the  stage,  and  divides  him  from  his 
fleshly  idols.  The  Christian  hath  been  untying  his 
heart  by  degrees  from  the  dearest  delights  of  sense, 
and  disengaging  it  from  all  that  is  not  immortal: 
with  holy  pleasure  he  can  bid  farewell  to  sun,  moon 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


35 


and  stars,  and  to  all  tilings  which  their  light  can  show 
him;  for  he  is  going  to  a world  where  the  Sun  of 
righteousness  ever  shines  in  unclouded  glory,  and 
discovers  such  sights  as  are  infinitely  superior  to  all 
that  the  eyes  of  flesh  can  behold:  he  can  part  with 
friends  and  kindred  with  a composed  spirit,  for  he 
is  going  to  meet  better  friends  and  diviner  kindred, 
as  we  shall  show  immediately:  he  can  leave  his 
dying  flesh  behind  him,  and  commit  it  to  the  dust  in 
joyful  hope  of  the  great  rising  day,  and  he  hath  a 
better  mansion  at  present  provided  for  him  on  high 
in  his  Father’s  house,  while  he  lives  far  separate  from 
all  earthly  dwellings.  2 Cor.  v.  1:  “We  know  that 
if  this  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we 
have  a building  of  God,  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens.” 

2.  Consideration.  The  moment  of  death  finishes 
our  state  of  trial,  and  fixes  us  unchangeably  in  the 
state  of  sin  or  holiness,  in  which  we  are  then  found  : 
and  blessed  is  the  watchful  Christian,  for  he  is 
prepared  to  have  his  trial  thus  ended,  and  his  state 
thus  fixed  and  made  unchangeable.  “ As  the  tree  falls, 
so  it  lies,5’  Eccles.  xi.  10.  Whether  to  the  north  or 
the  south:  as  the  soul  parts  from  the  body,  so  it 
remains,  whether  fitted  for  heaven  or  hell.  It  is 
therefore  a matter  of  the  last  importance  to  be  pre- 
pared and  ready  for  such  an  eternal  sentence  and 
unchangeable  determination.  Were  any  of  us  to  be 
surprised  some  moment  this  day,  and  forced  to  con- 
tinue all  our  lives  in  that  very  posture  of  body  in 
which  we  are  then  found,  should  we  not  be  awake, 
and  keep  ourselves  in  the  most  natural  and  easy 
gestures  all  that  day,  lest  we  be  seized  at  once  and 
fixed  in  some  distorted,  painful,  and  uneasy  situation 
all  our  months  and  years  to  come?  or  if  we  were  to  be 
bound  down  to  one  single  thought  or  passion  all  the 
remnant  of  our  life  in  which  we  were  found  in  any 
uncertain  minute  in  this  hour,  should  we  not  watch 


36 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


with  utmost  care,  and  guard  against  every  unpleasing 
thought,  and  every  fretful  and  vexing  passion,  lest  it 
should  be  fixed  upon  us  till  we  die? 

Now  this  is  the  case  at  death:  the  almighty  voice 
of  God  then  pronounces,  “He  that  is  unclean  and 
unholy,  must  for  ever  be  unholy  and  unclean ; but 
he  that  is  righteous,  let  him  be  righteous  still,  and  he 
that  is  holy,  shall  be  for  ever  holy.”  Rev.  xxii.  11. 
1 will  not  precisely  determine  that  this  is  the  sense  of 
that  text;  yet  since  the  apostle  speaks  there  concern- 
ing the  coming  of  Christ,  it  may  be  very  applicable 
to  the  present  case.  Now  how  dreadful  soever  this 
thought  is  to  a guilty  sinful  creature,  it  is  no  terror  to 
a wakeful  Christian : he  is  ready  to  have  these  words 
pronounced  from  heaven,  for  they  will  establish  him 
in  eternal  holiness  and  eternal  peace : he  hath  en- 
deavoured to  secure  for  himself  an  interest  in  the 
love  of  God  through  the  faith  and  love  of  Jesus  the 
blessed  Mediator,  and  at  death  he  is  fixed  for  ever  in 
their  love.  He  hath  loved  God  in  time,  and  in  this 
visible  world,  and  there  is  nothing  in  all  the  unseen 
worlds,  nothing  through  all  the  ages  of  eternity  shall 
ever  separate  him  from  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  moment  of  death  hath  fixed  him  for  ever 
a holy  and  beloved  soul,  beyond  the  power  of  creatures 
to  change  his  temper  or  his  state.  This  is  the  bless- 
edness of  the  watchful  Christian. 

3.  Consideration.  Death  sets  us  in  a more  imme- 
diate and  sensible  manner  in  the  presence  of  God,  a 
glorious  and  holy  God,  God  the  Judge  of  all;  and 
blessed  is  the  watchful  Christian,  for  he  is  willing  to 
stand  before  this  God,  to  be  brought  into  his  presence : 
this  is  what  he  hath  longed  and  prayed  for,  to  be  for 
ever  with  God.  It  is  the  blessedness  that  he  hath 
sought  with  incessant  labours  and  tears,  with  holy 
diligence  and  daily  devotion,  and  blessed  is  the  pure 
in  heart  who  hath  watched  against  the  pollutions  of 
the  world,  “for  he  shall  see  God.”  Matt,  v 8 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


37 


It  is  certain  that  when  the  soul  departs  from  the 
body,  “it  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,”  Eccles.  xii.  7. 
And  probably  to  God  as  a Judge  too,  Heb.  ix.  27. 
“After  death  the  judgment.”  There  is  some  sort  of 
determination  of  the  state  of  each  single  person  at 
death  before  the  great  and  general  judgment-day, 
because  that  day  is  appointed  rather  for  the  public 
vindication  of  the  equity  of  God  in  his  distribution 
of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  is  particularly  put 
into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  Jesus:  now  since  the 
separate  soul  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,  it  is  of  vast 
importance  that  we  be  then  prepared  to  come  before 
him. 

Some  of  us  here  would  be  mightily  afraid  of  ap- 
pearing before  a prince,  or  a great  and  honourable 
person,  in  an  undress;  but  for  our  souls  in  a naked 
state,  or  in  a garment  of  sinful  pollution,  to  be  sur-  . 
prised  by  the  great  and  holy  God,  to  be  set  on  a sudden 
in  his  presence,  what  terror  is  contained  in  this 
thought!  Now  the  “watchful  Christian  hath  this 
blessedness,”  that  he  is  washed  from  his  defilements 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  “he  is  clothed  with  the  robe 
of  righteousness  and  the  garments  of  salvation.”  Isa. 
Ixi.  10.  He  is  prepared  to  appear  before  a God  of 
infinite  holiness  without  terror,  for  he  is  made  like 
him,  he  bears  his  image,  he  appears  as  one  of  his 
children,  and  he  is  not  afraid  to  see  his  Father. 

However  some  commentators  may  confine  and 
impoverish  the  sense  of  David  in  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  Psalm,  yet  I am  persuaded  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  him  designed  to  express  his  faith  and  joy, 
either  at  the  hour  of  death,  or  in  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection:  “I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteous- 
ness, I shall  be  satisfied  when  I awake  with  thy  like- 
ness:’* when  the  psalmist  had  described  what  were 
the  satisfactions  of  the  men  of  this  world  in  death,  ver. 

14,  (viz.)  that  they  had  filled  their  houses  with  chil- 
dren and  leave  their  substance  or  riches  to  them,  he 


38 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


then  declares  what  was  his  support  and  hope  in  his 
dying  hour:  as  for  me,  saith  he,  I have  other  views. 
I am  not  afraid,  0 my  God,  to  appear  before  thee  in 
the  other  world;  for  I shall  see  thy  face,  not  as  a 
criminal,  but  as  a person  approved  and  accepted, 
and  righteous  in  thy  sight : I shall  awake  from  this 
world  of  dreams  and  shadows  into  thy  complete  image 
and  perfect  holiness;  or  I shall  awake  from  the  dust 
of  death,  and  shall  be  fully  satisfied,  and  rejoice  to 
find  myself  made  so  like  my  God,  and  to  dwell  for 
ever  in  his  presence. 

4.  Consideration.  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that 
lets  the  soul  out  of  the  body,  for  he  hath  the  keys 
of  death,  and  of  the  unseen  world,  and  blessed  is  the 
watchful  Christian  who  waits  for  the  coming  of  his 
Lord,  for  he  can  meet  him  gladly  when  fulfilling  this 
part  of  his  glorious  office.  He  shall  be  introduced  by 
him  into  the  presence  of  God  his  Father,  and  shall 
receive  most  condescending  instances  of  mercy  from 
Christ  himself.  See  the  text,  Luke  xii.  36,  37 : “Be 
ye  yourselves  like  men  that  wait  for  the  Lord,  that 
when  he  cometh  and  knocketh  ye  may  open  to  him 
immediately.  Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the 
Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watching:  verily,  I 
say  to  you,  he  shall  gird  himself  and  make  them  sit 
down  to  meat,  and  come  forth  to  serve  them.”  He 
shall  condescend  as  it  were  even  below  the  office  of 
a steward;  he  shall  bring  out  the  heavenly  provisions 
of  his  Father’s  house  and  make  them  sit  down  in  his 
kingdom,  and  give  them  divine  refreshments  after 
their  labours;  he  shall  feed  them  as  a shepherd,  shall 
lead  them  to  living  fountains  of  waters,  and  afford 
them  his  presence  for  ever. 

The  watchful  Christian  is  blessed  indeed  when  he 
shall  be  “absent  from  the  body,  and  be  at  once  pre- 
sent with  the  Lord,”  2 Cor.  v.  8.  The  Lord  Jesus, 
whom  he  hath  seen  by  faith  in  his  gospel,  whose 
voice  he  hath  heard  in  his  word  and  obeyed  it,  Jesus, 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


39 


whom  he  hath  touched  and  tasted  in  the  appointed 
emblems  of  his  supper  on  earth,  in  whom  he  hath 
believed  through  the  word  of  grace,  and  whom  he 
hath  loved  before  he  saw  him,  shall  now  receive  him 
into  his  presence,  and  the  disciple  shall  rejoice  for 
ever  to  meet  his  Lord,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory. 

5.  Consideration.  At  the  hour  of  death  we  are 
sent  at  once  into  an  invisible  world,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  in  the  midst  of  holy  or  of  unclean  spirits; 
borne  away  at  once  into  an  unknown  region  and 
into  the  midst  of  unknown  inhabitants,  the  nations 
of  the  saved  or  the  crowds  of  damned  souls;  and 
blessed  is  the  watchful  Christian,  for  he  is  ready  to 
enter  into  the  unseen  regions : he  knows  he  shall  not 
be  placed  among  those  whose  company  and  whose 
character  he  never  loved  here  on  earth;  his  soul  shall 
not  be  gathered  with  sinners,  nor  his  dwelling  be  with 
the  workers  of  iniquity,  but  with  the  saints,  the  excel- 
lent in  the  earth,  in  whom  was  all  his  delight.  Every 
one  when  dismissed  from  the  prison  of  this  body  must 
go  as  the  apostles  did,  when  released  from  the  pri- 
son at  “ Jerusalem,  must  go  to  their  own  company,” 
Acts  iv.  23.  Judas  the  traitor  went  to  his  own 
place,  Acts  i.  25.  And  the  watchful  Christian  will 
be  disposed  among  “ spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,” 
he  will  find  himself  in  that  blessed  society  at  his  dis- 
mission from  flesh  and  blood.  Read  and  see  what  a 
glorious  society  it  is,  Heb.  xii.  22,  23:  “To  the 
innumerable  company  of  angels,  the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first-born  who  are  written  in  hea- 
ven, to  Gtod  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  and  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant.”  The  apostle  says,  we  are  come  to 
them  already,  that  is,  by  the  covenant  of  grace  as 
administered  under  the  gospel,  we  are  brought  into 
a blessed  union  with  them  in  spirit  and  in  temper 
even  in  this  life;  we  are  members  of  the  same  body, 


40 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


we  are  united  to  the  same  head,  and  made  parts  of 
the  same  household,  though  we  are  not  yet  brought 
home : but  at  death  we  are  actually  present  with  them, 
and  dwell  and  converse  among  them  with  holy 
familiarity,  as  citizens  of  the  same  heavenly  Jerusa- 
lem, as  parts  of  the  same  sacred  family  and  at  home, 
as  children  of  the  same  God,  and  in  their  Father’s 
house.  The  watchful  Christian  is  at  once  carried 
into  the  midst  of  the  blessed  world  by  ministering 
angels,  the  world  where  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
dwell,  and  made  speedy  partaker  of  their  blessedness. 
Luke  xvi.  22. 

6.  Consideration.  Death  brings  with  it  a most  • 
amazing  and  inconceivable  change  of  all  our  present 
circumstances  and  thoughts,  our  actions  and  pursuits, 
our  sensations  and  enjoyments,  I mean  all  those  that 
relate  to  this  life  only,  such  as  eating,  drinking,  buy- 
ing, selling,  &c.  It  dislodges  us  from  these  bodies, 
and  thereby  finishes  all  those  affections,  concerns  and 
labours  which  belong  to  the  body,  and  sends  us  into 
another  sort  of  world  whose  affairs  and  concerns  are 
such  only  as  belong  to  spirits,  whether  sinful  or  holy: 
a most  delightful  or  a most  dreadful  change!  a world 
of  unknown  sorrows  or  unknown  happiness!  Luke 
xxiii.  43:  “This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  pa- 
radise.” Luke  xvi.  22:  “ The  rich  man  died,  and  in 
hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes.”  And  indeed  the  change 
is  so  vast,  that  comparatively  speaking  we  know  not 
what  sorrow  or  happiness  is  till  this  day  come.  Now 
it  is  a very  foolish  and  dangerous  thing  at  best  to 
pass  into  such  an  extreme  change  of  states,  infinitely 
worse  or  infinitely  better,  while  we  are  asleep  and 
at  all  uncertainties:  what  if  it  should  be  the  miserable 
state,  and  we  should  awake  in  hell?  but  “the  watch- 
ful Christian  is  blessed,  for  he  is  ready  for  this  amaz- 
ing change.”  He  hath  long  lived  upon  it  by  faith 
and  hope,  though  he  knows  not  so  well  what  the 
particular  enjoyments  of  heaven  are;  and  he  is  well 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


41 


satisfied  that  he  is  prepared  for  that  happy  world 
by  God  himself;  2 Cor.  v.  5:  “He  that  hath  wrought 
us  for  the  self-same  thing  is  God he  is  well  pleased 
to  have  his  faith  changed  into  sight,  and  his  hope 
into  fruition : he  hath  been  long  pained  and  burdened 
in  this  sinful  world  with  the  vain  trifles,  the  poor  low 
cares  and  amusements  of  it;  the  sins,  and  sorrows, 
and  temptations  that  surround  him  in  it,  give  him 
continual  disquietudes,  and  he  hath  been  training  up 
in  the  school  of  Christ  by  devotion  and  good  works 
for  those  higher  services  of  heaven.  Since  he  can 
trust  the  promises  of  the  gospel,  and  has  had  some 
small  foretaste  of  these  pleasures,  he  knows  that  the 
actions  and  employments,  the  businesses  and  joys  of 
the  upper  world  are  incomparably  superior  to  any 
thing  here  on  earth,  and  free  from  all  the  uneasy  and 
defiling  circumstances  of  this  life.  He  is  awake  to 
receive  this  change : he  rejoices  in  his  removal  from 
world  to  world : his  vital  and  active  powers  are  ready 
for  the  business  of  paradise,  and  he  opens  his  heart 
to  take  in  the  joy. 

7.  Consideration.  Death  makes  its  approaches 
oftentimes,  and  seizes  us  in  such  a manner  as  to  give 
no  room  for  prayers  or  repentance;  then  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  watchful  soul  appears,  that  if  he  is  carried 
out  of  the  world  and  time  in  such  a surprising  way, 
he  is  safe  for  eternity. 

Sometimes  the  messenger  of  death  stops  all  our 
thoughts  and  actions  at  once  by  a lethargic  stroke, 
or  confounds  them  all  by  the  delirious  ravings  of  a 
fever;  the  light  of  reason  is  eclipsed  and  darkened, 
the  powers  of  the  mind  are  all  obstructed,  or  the 
languishings  of  nature  have  so  enfeebled  them,  that 
either  we  cannot  exercise  them  to  any  spiritual  pur- 
poses, or  we  are  forbidden  to  do  it  for  fear  of  counter- 
working the  physician,  increasing  the  malady,  and 
hastening  our  death.  Thus  we  are  not  capable  of 
making  any  new  preparation  for  the  important  work 

5* 


42 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


of  dying;  we  can  make  use  of  none  of  the  means  of 
grace,  nor  do  any  thing  more  to  secure  an  interest 
in  the  love  of  God,  the  salvation  of  Christ,  and  the 
blessings  of  heaven. 

This  is  a very  dismal  thought  indeed.  But  the 
watchful  Christian  hath  this  blessedness,  that  he  is  fit 
to  receive  the  sentence  of  death  in  any  form ; nor 
lethargies,  nor  deliriums,  nor  languors  of  nature  can 
destroy  the  seeds  of  grace  and  religion  in  the  heart, 
which  were  sown  there  in  the  days  of  health ; nor  can 
any  of  the  formidable  attendants  of  death  cancel  his 
former  transaction  with  God  and  Christ  about  his 
immortal  concerns.  That  great  and  momentous 
work  was  done  before  death  appeared  or  any  of  its 
attendants.  He  was  not  so  unwise  as  to  leave  matters 
of  infinite  importance  at  that  dreadful  hazard  : he  is 
not  now  to  begin  to  seek  after  a lost  God,  nor  to  begin 
his  repentance  for  past  sins : he  is  not  now  a stranger 
at  the  throne  of  grace,  nor  beginning  to  learn  to 
pray  : he  is  not  now  commencing  his  acquaintance 
with  Jesus  Christ  his  Saviour  in  the  midst  of  a tu- 
mult and  hurry  of  thoughts  and  fears,  nor  are  the 
works  of  faith  and  love  and  holiness  to  be  now  begun. 
Dreadful  work  indeed,  and  infinitely  hazardous!  to 
begin  to  be  convinced  of  sin  on  the  borders  of  death, 
and  to  make  our  first  inquiries  after  God  and  heaven 
upon  the  very  brink  of  hell ! to  begin  to  ask  for  par- 
don when  he  can  live  in  sin  no  longer ; to  cry  out, 
Jesus  save  me,  when  the  waves  of  the  wrath  of  God 
are  breaking  in  upon  the  drowning  soul ! hopeless 
condition  and  extreme  wretchedness ! to  have  all  the 
hard  work  of  conversion  to  go  through  under  the 
sinkings  of  feeble  nature,  and  to  begin  the  exercise 
of  virtue  and  godliness  under  the  wild  disorders  of 
reason  ! what  a madness  is  it  to  leave  our  infinite 
concerns  at  such  a horrible  uncertainty! 

But  these  are  not  thy  circumstances,  O wakeful 
Christian ; nor  was  this  the  case  of  our  young  departed 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


43 


friend,  though  her  distemper  soon  discomposed  her 
reasoning  powers,  and  gave  her  very  little  oppor- 
tunity to  make  a present  preparation  for  dying.  But 
she  had  heard  the  voice  of  Christ  in  his  gospel  betimes, 
and  awoke  to  righteousness  at  his  call,  that  she  might 
be  always  ready  for  his  summons  in  death.  Religion 
was  her  early  care,  a fear  to  offend  God  possessed 
and  governed  her  thoughts  and  actions  from  her 
childhood,  and  heavenly  things  were  her  youthful 
choice.  She  had  appeared  for  some  years  in  the 
public  profession  of  Christianity,  and  maintained  the 
practice  of  godliness  in  the  church  and  the  world ; 
but  it  began  much  more  early  in  secret.  Her 
beloved  closet  and  her  retiring  hours  were  silent 
witnesses  of  her  daity  converse  with  God  and  her 
Saviour:  there  she  devoted  her  soul  to  her  Creator 
betimes,  according  to  the  encouragement  and  rules 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  there  she  found  peace 
and  salvation.  It  was  there  she  made  a conscientious 
recollection  of  the  sermons  she  heard  in  public  from 
her  tender  years,  and  left  behind  her  these  fruits  of 
her  memory  and  her  pen,  to  attest  what  improvements 
she  gained  in  knowledge  by  the  ministrations  of  the 
word;  and  her  cabinet  has  now  discovered  to  us 
another  set  of  memoirs  wherein  she  continually  ob- 
served what  advances  she  might  make  in  real  piety 
by  those  weekly  seasons  of  grace. 

It  was  under  these  influences  she  maintained  a most 
dutiful  and  affectionate  behaviour  to  her  honoured 
parents,  and  with  filial  fondness  mingled  with  esteem, 
submission,  and  reverence,  paid  her  constant  regards 
to  the  lady  her  mother  in  her  widowed  estate.  It  was 
by  the  united  principles  of  grace  and  nature,  she 
lived  with  her  youngest  sisters  in  uncommon  harmony 
and  friendship,  as  though  one  heart  and  soul  animated 
them  all.  It  was  under  these  influences  she  ever 
stood  upon  her  guard  amongst  all  the  innocent  free- 
doms of  life,  and  though  she  did  not  immure  herself 


44 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


♦ 

in  the  walls  of  a mother’s  house,  but  indulged  a just 
curiosity  to  learn  some  of  the  forms  of  the  world,  the 
magnificence  of  courts  and  the  grandeurs  of  life,  yet 
she  knew  how  far  to  appear  among  them,  and  when 
to  retire.  Nor  did  she  forbid  herself  all  the  polite 
diversions  of  youth  agreeable  to  her  rank ; nor  did 
reason  or  religion,  or  her  superior  relatives  forbid 
her;  yet  she  was  still  awake  to  secure  all  that  belongs 
to  honour  and  virtue,  nor  did  she  use  to  venture  to 
the  utmost  bounds  of  what  sobriety  and  religion 
might  allow.  Danger  of  guilt  stands  near  the  ex- 
treme limits  of  innocence. 

Shall  I let  this  paper  inform  the  world  with  what 
friendly  decency  she  treated  her  young  companions 
and  acquaintance,  how  far  from  indulging  the  modish 
liberties  of  scandal  on  the  absent,  how  much  she  hated 
those  scornful  and  derisive  airs  which  persons  on 
higher  ground  too  often  assume  toward  those  who  are 
seated  in  the  inferior  ranks  of  life?  Is  it  proper  I 
should  say  how  much  her  behaviour  won  upon  the 
esteem  of  all  that  knew  her,  though  I could  appeal 
to  the  general  sorrow  at  her  death  to  confirm  the 
truth  of  it?  but  who  can  forbear  on  this  occasion  to 
take  notice  how  far  she  acquired  that  lovely  character 
in  her  narrow  and  private  sphere,  which  seems  almost 
to  have  been  derived  to  her  by  inheritance  from  her 
honoured  father  deceased,  who  had  the  tears  of  his 
country  long  dropping  upon  his  tomb,  and  whose 
memory  yet  lives  in  a thousand  hearts? 

Such  a conversation  and  such  a character,  made 
up  of  piety  and  virtue,  were  prepared  for  the  attacks 
of  a fever  with  malignant  and  mortal  sy  m ptoms.  Slow 
and  unsuspected  were  the  advances  of  the  disease, 
till  the  powers  of  reason  began  to  falter,  and  retire, 
till  the  heralds  of  death  had  made  their  appearance 
and  spread  on  her  bosom  their  purple  ensigns. 
When  these  disorders  began  her  lucid  intervals  w?ere 
longer,  and  while  she  thought  no  person  was  near 


DYTNG  IN  PEACE. 


45 


she  could  address  herself  to  God,  and  say,  how  often 
she  had  given  herself  to  him ; she  hoped  she  had  done 
it  sincerely;  and  found  acceptance  with  him,  and 
trusted  that  she  was  not  deceived.  The  gleams  of 
reason  that  broke  in  between  the  clouds  gave  her 
light  enough  to  discern  her  own  evidences  of  piety, 
and  refresh  her  hope.  Then  she  repeated  some  of 
the  last  verses  of  the  139th  Psalm  in  metre,  (viz.) 

Lord,  search  my  soul,  try  every  thought: 

Though  my  own  heart  accuse  me  not 
Of  walking  in  a false  disguise, 

I beg  the  trial  of  thine  eyes. 

Doth  secret  mischief  lurk  within? 

Do  I indulge  some  unknown  sin  ? 

O turn  my  feet  whene’er  I stray, 

And  lead  me  in  thy  perfect  way. 

She  was  frequent  and  importunate  in  her  requests 
for  the  Psalm-book,  that  she  might  read  that  Psalm, 
or  at  least  have  it  read  to  her  throughout ; and  it  was 
with  some  difficulty  we  persuaded  her  to  be  com- 
posed in  silence;  thus  sincerely  willing  was  she  that 
God  might  search  and  try  her  heart,  still  hoping  well 
concerning  her  spiritual  state,  yet  still  solicitous 
about  the  assurance  of  her  own  sincerity  in  her  former 
transactions  with  heaven. 

The  next  day,  among  the  rovings  of  her  thoughts, 
she  rehearsed  all  those  verses  of  the  17th  Psalm, 
which  are  paraphrased  in  the  same  book,  with  very 
little  faltering  in  a line  or  two: 

Lord,  I am  thine ; but  thou  wilt  prove 
My  faith,  my  patience,  and  my  love,  &c. 

The  traces  of  her  thoughts  under  this  confusion 
of  animal  nature  retained  something  in  them  divine 
and  heavenly. 


46 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


O blessed  situation  of  soul,  when  we  stand  prepared 
for  death,  though  it  come  with  the  formidable  retinue 
of  a disordered  brain  and  clouded  reason  ! it  would 
be  too  long  at  present  to  represent  to  you  the  sad  con- 
sequences of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ  comes 
to  call  us  away  from  this  world,  I shall  therefore 
only  make  these  three  reflections. 

Refl.  1.  None  can  begin  too  early  to  awake  to 
righteousness  and  prepare  for  the  call  of  Christ,  since 
no  one  is  too  young  to  be  sent  for  by  his  messenger 
of  death.  I do  not  here  speak  of  the  state  of  infancy, 
when  persons  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  in  a personal 
state  of  trial:  but  when  I say,  none  can  awake  too 
early  to  mind  the  things  of  religion,  I mean,  after 
reason  begins  its  proper  exercise,  and  this  appears 
sometimes  in  early  childhood.  All  our  life  in  this 
world,  compared  with  heaven,  is  a sort  of  night  and 
season  of  darkness;  and  if  our  Lord  summon  us 
away  in  the  first  watch  of  the  night,  in  the  midst  of 
youth  and  vigour,  and  the  pleasing  allurements  of 
flesh  and  sense,  we  are  in  a deplorable  state  if  we  are 
found  sleeping,  and  hurried  away  from  earth  into  the 
invisible  world  in  the  midst  of  our  foolish  dreams  of 
golden  vanity.  Dreadful  indeed,  to  have  a young 
thoughtless  creature  carried  off  the  stage  sleeping  and 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins ! Let  those  that  are  drunk 
with  wine  fall  asleep  upon  the  top  of  a mast  in  the 
middle  of  the  sea,  where  the  winds  and  the  waves  are 
tossing  and  roaring  all  around  them : let  a mad-man 
who  has  lost  his  reason  lie  down  to  sleep  upon  the 
. edge  of  a precipice  where  a pit  of  fire  and  brimstone 
is  burning  beneath  him  and  ready  to  receive  his  fall; 
but  let  not  young  sinners  whose  rational  powers  are 
in  exercise,  and  whose  life  is  every  moment  a mere 
uncertainty,  venture  to  go  on  in  their  dangerous 
slumbers  while  the  wrath  of  God  and  eternal  misery 
attend  them  if  they  die  before  they  are  awake. 

It  is  granted  that  no  power  beneath  that  which  is 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


47 


divine,  can  effectually  quicken  a dead  soul  and 
awaken  it  into  a divine  life.  It  is  the  work  of  “ God 
to  quicken  the  dead,”  Rom.  iv.  17.  Eph.  ii.  5.  It  is 
the  Son  of  God,  who  is  the  “ light  and  life  of  the 
world,”  John  i.  4.  To  whom  “the  Father  hath 
given  this  quickening  power,”  John  vi.  26.  He 
calls  sinners  to  awake  them  from  their  deadly  sleep, 
Eph.  v.  14.  And  they  live  by  him  as  he  lives  by 
the  Father,  John  vi.  57.  He  awakens  dead  souls  to 
life  by  the  same  “living  Spirit  which  shall  quicken 
their  mortal  bodies,”  and  raise  them  from  the  grave, 
Rom.  vii.  9,  11,  13,  2 Cor.  iii.  3,  which  Spirit  he 
“ hath  received  from  the  Father,”  John  iii.  34.  And 
on  this  account  we  are  to  seek  the  vital  influences  of 
this  grace  from  heaven  by  constant  and  importunate 
prayer.  Yet  in  my  text,  as  well  as  in  other  scriptures, 
“awaking  out  of  sleep  and  watching  unto  righteous- 
ness,” is  represented  as  our  duty,  and  we  are  to  exert 
all  our  natural  powers  with  holy  fervency  for  this  end, 
while  our  daily  petitions  draw  down  from  heaven 
the  promised  aids  of  grace.  Our  diligence  in  duty 
and  our  dependence  on  the  divine  power  and  mercy 
are  happily  and  effectually  joined  in  the  command  of 
our  Saviour  on  this  very  occasion  in  one  of  his  para- 
bles, Mark  xiii.  33.  “Watch  and  pray,  for  ye  know 
not  when  the  time  is  that  the  Lord  will  come.”  And 
again,  Chapter  xiv.  38:  “Watch  and  pray  that  ye 
enter  not  into  temptation.”  Trust  not  in  your  own 
strength  and  sufficiency  for  the  glorious  change  to 
be  wrought  in  your  sinful  hearts,  and  yet  neglect 
not  your  own  labours  and  restless  endeavours  under 
a pretence  that  it  is  God’s  work  and  not  yours. 
“ Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light.” 

Nor  should  frail  dying  creatures  in  their  youngest 
years  delay  this  work  one  day  nor  one  hour,  since  the 
consequences  of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ 
calls,  are  terrible  indeed.  We  are  beset  with  morta- 


48 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


lity  all  around  us;  the  seeds  of  disease  and  dissolu- 
tion are  working  within  us  from  our  very  birth  and 
cradle  ever  since  sin  entered  into  our  natures ; and 
we  should  ever  be  in  readiness  to  remove  hence, 
since  we  are  never  secure  from  the  summons  of 
Heaven,  the  stroke  of  death  and  the  demands  of  the 
grave. 

There  was  a lovely  boy,  the  son  of  the  Shunamite, 
who  was  given  to  his  mother  in  a miraculous  way,  and 
when  he  was  in  the  field  among  the  reapers,  he  cried 
out,  My  head,  my  head ; he  was  carried  home  imme- 
diately, and  in  a few  hours  died  in  his  mother’s  bosom, 
2 Kings  iv.  18.  Who  would  have  imagined  that 
headach  should  have  been  death,  and  that  in  so  short 
a time  too  ? This  is  almost  the  case  which  we  lament 
at  present:  the  headach  was  sent  but  a few  days 
before,  nor  was  the  pain  very  intense,  nor  the  ap- 
pearance dangerous,  yet  it  became  the  fatal  though 
unexpected  forerunner  of  death. 

This  providence  is  an  awful  warning-piece  to  all 
her  young  acquaintance  to  be  ready  for  a sudden  re- 
moval; for  she  was  of  a healthy  make,  and  seemed  to 
stand  at  as  great  distance  from  the  gates  of  death  as 
any  of  you:  but  the  firmest  constitution  of  human 
nature  is  born  with  death  in  it.  From  every  age  and 
every  spot  of  ground  and  every  moment  of  time  there 
are  short  and  sudden  ways  of  descent  to  the  grave. 
Trap-doors  (if  I may  use  so  low  a metaphor)  are 
always  under  us,  and  a thousand  unseen  avenues  to 
the  regions  of  the  dead.  A malignant  fever  strikes 
the  strongest,  nature  with  a mortal  blast  at  the  com- 
mand  of  the  great  Author  and  Disposer  of  life.  My 
youngest  hearers  may  be  called  away  from  the  earth 
by  the  next  pain  that  seizes  them.  Nothing  but 
religion,  early  religion  and  sincere  godliness  can 
give  you  hope  in  youthful  death,  or  leave  a fragrant 
savour  on  your  name  or  memory  among  those  that 
survive. 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


49 


Refl.  2.  If  such  blessedness  as  I have  described 
belong  to  every  watchful  Christian  at  the  hour  of 
death,  then  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  take  notice 
of  some  peculiar  advantages  which  attend  those 
who  shake  off  the  deadly  sleep  of  sin  in  their  younger 
years,  and  are  awake  early  to  God  and  religion. 

(1.)  They  have  much  fewer  sins  to  mourn  over  on 
a death-bed,  and  they  prevent  much  bitter  repentance 
for  youthful  iniquities.  Holy  Job  was  a man  of  dis- 
tinguished piety,  and  God  himself  pronounces  of 
him,  that  “ there  was  none  like  him  in  all  the  earth,” 
Job  i.  18;  but  it  is  a question  whether  his  most  early 
days  were  devoted  to  God,  and  whether  he  was  so 
watchful  over  his  behaviour  in  that  dangerous  season 
of  life,  for  he  makes  a heavy  complaint  in  his  ad- 
dresses to  God,  Job  xiii.  26:  “Thou  writest  bitter 
things  against  me,  and  makest  me  to  possess  the 
iniquities  of  my  youth.”  The  sooner  we  begin  to 
be  awake  to  holiness,  the  more  of  these  follies  and 
sorrows  are  prevented : happy  those  who  have  the 
fewest  of  them  to  im bitter  their  following  lives,  or 
make  a death-bed  painful ! 

(2.)  Young  persons  have  fewer  attachments  to 
the  world,  and  the  persons  and  things  of  it  which  are 
round  about  them,  and  are  more  ready  to  part  with 
it  wThen  their  souls  are  united  to  God  by  an  early  faith 
and  love.  They  have  not  yet  entered  into  so  nume- 
rous engagements  of  life,  nor  dwelt  long  enough  here 
to  have  their  hearts  grown  so  fast  on  to  creatures 
which  usually  makes  the  parting-stroke  so  full  of 
anguish  and  smarting  sorrow.  A child  can  much 
more  easily  ascend  to  heaven  and  leave  a parent  be- 
hind, without  that  tender  and  painful  solicitude  which 
a dying  parent  has  for  the  welfare  of  a surviving  child. 
The  surrender  of  all  mortal  interests  at  the  call  of  God 
is  much  more  easy  when  our  souls  are  not  tied  to 
them  by  so  many  strings,  nor  united  by  so  many  of 
the  softer  endearments  of  nature,  and  where  grace 


50  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

I 

has  taught  us  to  practise  an  early  weaning  from  all 
temporal  comforts,  and  a little  loosened  our  hearts 
from  them  by  the  faith  of  things  eternal. 

(3.)  Those  that  have  been  awake  betimes  to  god- 
liness give  peculiar  honour  to  the  gospel,  at  death, 
and  leave  this  testimony  to  the  divine  religion  of 
Jesus,  that  it  was  able  to  subdue  passion  and  appetite 
in  that  season  of  life  when  they  are  usually  strongest 
and  most  unruly.  They  give  peculiar  credit  and 
glory  to  the  Christian  name  and  the  gospel,  which  has 
gained  them  so  many  victories  over  the  enemies  of 
their  salvation,  at  that  age  wherein  multitudes  are  the 
captives  of  sin  and  slaves  to  folly  and  vanity. 

(4.)  Those  Christians  who  are  awake  to  God  in 
their  early  years  leave  more  happy  and  powerful 
examples  of  living  and  dying  to  their  young  com- 
panions and  acquaintance.  It  is  the  temper  of  every 
age  of  life  to  be  more  influenced  and  affected  by  the 
practice  of  persons  of  the  same  years.  Sin  has  fewer 
excuses  to  make  in  order  to  shield  itself  from  the 
reproof  of  such  examples,  who  have  renounced  it 
betimes;  and  virtue  carries  with  it  a more  effectual 
motive  to  persuade  young  sinners  to  piety  and  good- 
ness when  it  can  point  to  its  votaries  of  the  same  age 
and  in  the  same  circumstances  of  life.  Why  may 
not  this  be  practised  by  you  as  well  as  by  your  com- 
panions round  about  you,  of  the  same  age?  But  I 
must  hasten  to  the  last  reflection. 

Refl.  3.  When  we  mourn  the  death  of  friends 
who  were  prepared  for  an  early  summons,  let  their 
preparation  be  our  support.  Blessed  be  God,  they 
were  not  found  sleeping!  while  we  drop  our  tears 
upon  the  grave  of  any  young  Christian  who  was 
awake  and  alive  to  God,  that  blessedness  which  Christ 
himself  pronounces  upon  them  is  a sweet  cordial  to 
mingle  with  our  bitter  sorrows,  and  will  greatlyassist 
to  dry  up  the  spring  of  them.  The  idea  of  their 
piety  and  their  approbation  in  the  sight  of  God  is  a 


DYING  IN  PEACE. 


51 


balm  to  heal  the  wound  and  give  present  ease  to  the 
heart-ache. 

We  are  ready  to  run  over  their  virtues,  and  spread 
abroad  their  amiable  qualities  in  our  thoughts,  and 
then  with  seeming  reason  we  give  a loose  to  the 
mournful  passion;  whereas  all  these,  when  set  in  a 
true  light,  are  real  ingredients  towards  our  relief. 

We  lament  the  loss  of  our  departed  friend,  when 
we  review  that  capacious  and  uncommon  power  of 
memory  which  the  God  of  nature  had  given  her,  and 
which  was  so  well  furnished  with  a variety  of  human 
and  divine  knowledge,  and  was  stored  with  a rich 
treasure  of  the  word  of  God,  so  that  if  Providence 
had  called  her  into  a more  public  appearance,  she 
might  have  stood  up  in  the  world  as  a burning  and 
shining  light  so  far  as  her  sex  and  station  required. 
This  furniture  of  the  mind  seems  indeed  to  be  lost  in 
death  and  buried  in  the  grave;  but  we  give  in  too 
much  to  the  judgment  of  sense;  did  not  this  exten- 
sive knowledge  lay  a foundation  for  her  early  piety? 
and  did  it  not  by  this  means  prepare  her  for  a more 
speedy  removal  to  a higher  school  of  improve- 
ments, and  a world  of  sublimer  devotion?  and  does 
she  not  shine  there  among  brighter  and  better  com- 
pany? 

We  mourn  again  for  our  loss  of  a person  so  valua- 
ble, when  we  think  of  that  general  calmness  and  se- 
dateness of  soul  which  she  possessed  in  a peculiar  de- 
gree, so  that  she  was  not  greatly  elevated  or  depressed 
by  common  accidents  or  occurrences;  but  this  se- 
cured her  from  the  rise  of  unruly  passions,  those  stor- 
my powers  of  nature  which  sometimes  sink  us  into 
guilt  and  distress,  and  make  us  unwilling  and  afraid 
of  the  sudden  summons  of  Christ,  lest  lie  should  find 
us  under  these  disorders. 

We  think  of  her  firmness  of  spirit  and  that  steady 
resolution  which,  joined  with  a natural  reserve,  was  a 
happy  guard  against  many  of  the  forward  follies  and 


52 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 


dangers  of  youth,  and  proved  a successful  defence 
against  some  of  the  allurements  and  temptations  of 
the  gayer  years  of  life;  and  then  we  mourn  afresh 
that  a person  so  well  formed  for  growing  prudence 
and  virtue  should  be  so  suddenly  snatched  away  from 
amongst  us.  But  this  steady  and  dispassionate  frame 
of  soul,  well  improved  by  religion  and  divine  grace, 
became  an  effectual  means  to  preserve  her  youth 
more  unblemished,  and  made  her  spirit  fitter  for  the 
heavenly  world,  where  nothing  can  enter  that  is  de- 
filed, and  whose  delights  are  not  tumultuous  as 
ours  are  on  earth,  but  all  is  a calm  and  rational  state 
of  joy. 

We  lament  yet  further  when  we  think  of  her  na- 
tive goodness  and  unwillingness  to  displease:  but 
goodness  is  the  very  temper  of  that  region  to  which 
she  is  gone,  and  she  is  the  fitter  companion  for  the 
inhabitants  of  a world  of  love. 

We  lament  that  such  a pattern  of  early  piety  should 
be  taken  from  the  earth,  when  there  are  so  few  prac- 
tices of  it,  especially  among  the  youth  of  our  degene- 
rate age,  and  in  plentiful  circumstances  of  life.  But 
it  is  a matter  of  high  thankfulness  to  God  who  endow- 
ed her  with  those  valuable  qualities,  and  trained  her 
up  so  soon  for  a world  so  much  better  than  ours  is. 
Let  our  sorrow  for  the  deceased  be  changed  into  de- 
vout praises,  to  divine  grace.  Let  us  imitate  the  holy 
language  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  and  say, 
we  are  comforted  even  at  her  grave  in  all  our  afflic- 
tion and  distress  by  the  remembrance  of  her  faith  and 
piety.  What  sufficient  thanks  can  we  render  unto 
God  upon  her  account  for  all  the  joy  wherewith  we 
rejoice  for  her  sake  before  our  God,  night  and  day 
praying  exceedingly  that  we  may  see  her  face  in  the 
state  of  perfection?  and  may  God  himself,  even  our 
Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  direct  our  way  to 
the  happy  world  where  she  dwells,  1 Thessalonians 
iii.  7,  &c.  The  imitation  of  what  was  excellent  in 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  . 


53 


her  life  and  watchful  readiness  to  follow  her  in  death 
are  the  best  honours  we  can  pay  her  memory,  and  the 
wisest  improvement  of  the  present  providence.  May 
the  Spirit  of  grace  teach  us  these  lessons  and  make  us 
learn  them  with  power,  that  when  our  Lord  Jesus 
shall  come  to  call  us  hence  by  death,  or  shall  appear 
with  all  his  saints  in  the  great  rising-day,  we  may  be 
found  among  his  wakeful  servants,  and  partake  of  the 
promised  blessedness ! Amen. 


6* 


DISCOURSE  III. 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


Watch  ye  therefore ; lest , coming  suddenly,  he  find  you  sleeping. 

Among  the  parables  of  our  Saviour  there  are 
several  recorded  by  the  evangelists,  which  represent 
him  as  a Prince,  or  Lord  and  Master  of  a family, 
departing  for  a season  from  his  servants,  and  in  his 
absence  appointing  them  their  proper  work,  with 
a solemn  charge  to  wait  for  his  return;  at  which 
time  he  foretold  them  that  he  should  require  an  ac- 
count of  their  behaviour  in  his  absence,  and  he  either 
intimates  or  expresses  a severe  treatment  of  those 
who  should  neglect  their  duty  while  he  was  gone,  or 
make  no  preparation  for  his  appearance.  He  informs 
them  also  that  he  should  come  upon  them  suddenly, 
and  for  this  reason  charges  them  to  be  always  awake 
and  upon  their  guard,  ver.  35:  “Watch  ye  there- 
fore, for  ye  know  not  when  the  master  of  the  house 
cometh;  whether  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock- 
crowing,  or  in  the  morning.” 

Though  the  ultimate  design  of  these  parables,  and 


56 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


the  coming  of  Christ  mentioned  therein,  refer  to  the 
great  day  of  judgment,  when  he  shall  return  from 
heaven,  shall  raise  the  dead,  and  call  mankind  to  ap- 
pear before  his  judgment-seat  to  receive  a recom- 
pense according  to  their  works;  yet  both  the  duties 
and  the  warnings  which  are  represented  in  these  pa- 
rables seem  to  be  very  accommodable  to  the  hour  of 
our  death;  for  then  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  has  the 
keys  of  death  and  the  grave  and  the  unseen  world, 
comes  to  finish  our  state  of  trial,  and  to  put  a period 
to  all  our  works  on  earth:  he  comes  then  to  call  us 
into  the  invisible  state;  he  disposes  our  bodies  to 
the  dust,  and  our  souls  are  sent  into  other  mansions, 
and  taste  some  degrees  of  appointed  happiness  or 
misery  according  to  their  behaviour  here.  The  so- 
lemn and  awful  warning  which  my  text  gives  us  con- 
cerning the  return  of  Christ  to  judgment,  may  be 
therefore  pertinently  applied  to  the  season  when  he 
shall  send  his  messenger  of  death  to  fetch  us  hence: 
“ Watch  ye  therefore;  lest,  coming  suddenly,  he  find 
you  sleeping.’7 

When  I had  occasion  to  treat  on  a subject  near 
akin  to  this,*  I showed  that  there  was  a distinction  to 
be  made  between  the  “dead  sleep  of  a sinner,  and  the 
slumber  of  an  unwatchful  Christian.”  Those  who 
never  had  the  work  of  religion  begun  in  their  hearts 
or  lives  are  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death ; whereas  some 
who  are  made  alive  by  the  grace  of  Christ  yet  may 
indulge  sinful  drowsiness,  and  grow  careless  and  se- 
cure, slothful  and  inactive.  The  wise  virgins  as 
well  as  the  foolish  were  slumbering  and  sleeping. 
Matt.  xxv.  5.  The  mischiefs  and  sorrows  which  at- 
tend each  of  these  when  Christ  shall  summon  them 
to  judgment,  or  shall  call  them  away  from  earth  by 


* In  a Funeral  Sermon  for  Mrs.  Sarah  Abney,  on  Luke  xii.  37: 
“Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  conies,  shall 
find  watching.” 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


57 


natural  death,  are  great  and  formidable,  though  they 
are  not  equally  dangerous : let  us  consider  each  of 
them  in  succession,  in  order  to  rouse  dead  sinners 
from  their  lethargy  and  to  keep  drowsy  Christians 
awake. 

First,  let  us  survey  the  sad  consequences  which 
attend  those  that  are  asleep  in  sin,  and  spiritually 
dead  when  the  hour  of  natural  death  approaches: 
they  are  such  as  these: — 

1.  If  they  happen  to  be  awakened  on  the  borders 
of  the  grave,  into  what  a horrible  confusion  and  dis- 
tress of  soul  are  they  plunged ! What  keen  anguish 
of  conscience  for  their  past  iniquities  seizes  upon 
them!  What  bitter  remorse  and  self-reproaches,  for 
the  seasons  of  grace  which  they  have  wasted,  for  the 
proposals  of  mercy  which  they  have  abused  and  re- 
jected, and  for  the  divine  salvation  which  seems  now 
to  be  lost  for  ever,  and  put  almost  beyond  the  reach 
of  possibility  and  hope  ! They  feel  the  messenger 
of  death  laying  his  cold  hands  upon  them,  and  they 
shudder  and  tremble  with  the  expectation  of  approach- 
ing misery.  They  look  up  to  heaven,  and  they  see  a 
God  of  holiness  there  as  a consuming  fire  ready  to 
devour  them  as  stubble  lit  for  the  flame;  they  look  to 
the  Son  of  God,  who  has  the  keys  of  death  in  his 
hand,  and  who  calls  them  away  from  the  land  of  the 
living,  even  to  Jesus,  the  compassionate  mediator,  but 
they  can  scarcely  persuade  themselves  to  expect  any 
thing  from  him,  because  they  have  turned  a deaf  ear 
so  long  to  the  invitations  of  his  gospel,  and  so  long 
affronted  his  divine  compassion.  They  look  behind 
them,  and  with  painful  agonies  are  frightened  at  the 
mountains  of  their  former  guilt  ready  to  overwhelm 
them : they  look  forward  and  see  the  pit  of  hell  open- 
ing upon  them  with  all  its  torments;  long  darkness 
without  a glimpse  of  light,  and  eternal  despair  with 
no  glimmerings  of  hope. 

Or  if  now  and  then  amidst  their  horrors  they  would 


58 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


try  to  form  some  faint  hope  of  mercy,  how  are  their 
spirits  perplexed  with  prevailing  anddistracting  fears, 
with  keen  and  cutting  reflections?  O that  I had 
improved  my  former  seasons  for  reading,  for  praying, 
for  meditating  on  divine  things!  but  I cannot  read, 

I can  hardly  meditate,  and  scarce  know  how  to  pray. 
Will  the  ear  of  God  ever  hearken  to  the  cries  and 
groans  of  a rebel  that  has  so  long  resisted  his  grace? 
Are  there  any  pardons  to  be  had  for  a criminal  who’ 
never  left  his  sins  till  vengeance  was  in  view?  Will 
the  blood  of  Christ  ever  be  applied  to  wash  a soul 
that  has  wallowed  in  his  defilements  till  death  roused 
him  out  of  them?  Will  the  meanest  favour  of  Heaven 
be  indulged  to  a wretch  that  has  grown  bold  in  sin 
in  opposition  to  so  loud  and  repeated  warnings  ? I 
am  awake  indeed,  but  I can  see  nothing  round  me 
but  distresses  and  discouragements,  and  my  soul 
sinks  within  rne,  and  my  heart  dies  at  the  thoughts 
of  appearing  before  God. 

It  is  a wise  and  just  observation  among  Christians, 
though  it  is  a very  common  one,  that  the  scriptures 
give  us  one  instance  of  a penitent  saved  in  his  dying 
hour,  and  that  is  the  thief  upon  the  cross,  that  so  none 
might  utterly  despair:  but  there  is  but  one  such  in- 
stance given,  that  none  might  presume.  The  work 
of  repentance  is  too  difficult  and  too  important  a 
thing  to  be  left  to  the  languors  of  a dying  bed  and 
the  tumults  and  flutterings  of  thought  which  attend 
such  a late  conviction.  There  can  be  hardly  any 
effectual  proofs  given  of  the  sincerity  of  such  re- 
pentings:  and  I am  verily  persuaded  there  are  few  of 
them  sincere ; for  we  have  often  found  these  violent 
emotions  of  conscience  vanish  again  if  the  sinner  has 
happened  to  recover  his  health : they  seem  to  be 
merely  the  wild  perplexities  and  struggles  of  nature 
averse  to  misery  rather  than  averse  to  sin.  Their  re- 
nouncing their  former  lusts  on  the  very  borders  of 
hell  and  destruction,  is  more  like  the  vehement  and 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


59 


irregular  efforts  of  a drowning  creature,  constrained 
to  let  go  a most  beloved  object,  and  taking  eager 
hold  of  any  plank  for  safety,  rather  than  the  calm  and 
reasonable  and  voluntary  designs  of  a mariner,  who 
forsakes  his  earthly  joys,  ventures  himself  in  a ship 
that  is  offered  him,  and  sets  sail  for  the  heavenly 
country.  I never  will  pronounce  such  efforts  and 
endeavours  desperate,  lest  I limit  the  grace  of  God, 
which  is  unbounded ; but  I can  give  very  little  en- 
couragement for  hope  to  an  hour  or  two  of  this  vehe- 
ment and  tumultuous  penitence  on  the  very  brink 
of  damnation.  Judas  repented,  but  his  agonies  of 
soul  hurried  him  to  hasten  his  own  death,  that  he 
might  go  to  his  own  place  ; and  there  is  abundance 
of  such  kind  of  repenting  in  every  corner  of  hell: 
that  is  a deep  and  dreadful  pit  whence  there  is  no 
redemption,  though  there  are  millions  of  such  sort 
of  penitents  : it  is  a strong  and  dark  prison  where  no 
beam  of  comfort  ever  shines,  where  bitter  anguish 
and  mourning  for  sins  past  is  no  evangelical  repent- 
ance, but  everlasting  and  hopeless  sorrow. 

II.  Those  that  are  found  sleeping  at  the  hour  of 
death  are  carried  away  at  once  from  all  their  sensual 
pursuits  and  enjoyments,  which  were  their  chosen 
portion  and  their  highest  happiness.  At  once  they 
lose  all  their  golden  dreams,  and  their  chief  good  is, 
as  it  were,  snatched  away  from  them  at  once  and  for 
ever.  They  stand  on  slippery  places,  they  are 
brought  to  destruction  in  a moment,  and  all  their 
former  joys  are  like  a dream  wThen  one  awaketh,  and 
finds  himself  beset  round  with  terrors. 

Are  there  any  of  you  that  are  pleasing  yourselves 
here  in  the  daysof  youth  and  vanity,  and  indulgeyour 
dreams  of  pleasure  in  the  sleep  of  spiritual  death? 
Think  of  the  approaching  moment  when  the  death  of 
nature  shall  dissolve  your  sleep,  and  scatter  all  the 
delusive  images  of  sinful  joy.  This  separation  from 
the  body  of  flesh  is  a fearful  shock  given  to  the  soul, 


60 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


that  makes  it  awake  indeed.  Sermons  would  not  do 
it;  the  voice  of  the  preacher  was  not  loud  enough ; 
strokes  of  affliction  and  smarting  providences  would 
not  do  it;  perhaps  the  soul  might  be  roused  a little, 
but  dropt  into  profound  sleep  again : sudden  or  sur- 
prising deaths  near  them,  and  even  the  pains  of  na- 
ture in  their  own  flesh,  their  own  sicknesses  and  dis- 
eases did  not  awaken  them,  nor  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  in  them  all : but  the  parting  stroke  that  divides 
the  soul  and  body  will  terribly  awaken  the  soul  from 
the  vain  delusion,  and  all  its  fancied  delights  for  ever 
vanish. 

When  they  are  visited  by  the  Lord  of  hosts  with 
this  thunder  and  earthquake,  as  the  prophet  Isaiah 
speaks,  when  this  storm  and  tempest  of  death  shall 
shake  the  sinner  out  of  his  airy  visions,  he  shall  be 
as  a hungry  man  that  dreameth  he  was  eating,  but 
awakes  and  his  soul  is  empty;  or  as  a thirsty  crea- 
ture dreaming  that  he  drinks,  but  he  awaketh  and 
behold  he  is  faint,  and  his  soul  is  pained  with  raging 
appetite:  the  sinner  finds  to  his  own  torment  how 
wretchedly  he  has  deceived  himself,  and  fed  upon  va- 
nity : there  are  no  more  earthly  objects  to  please  his 
senses  and  to  gratify  his  inclinations;  but  the  soul 
for  ever  lies  upon  a rack  of  carnal  desire,  and  no 
proper  object  to  satisfy  it.  His  taste  is  not  suited  to 
the  pleasures  of  a world  of  spirits,  he  can  find  no  God 
there  to  comfort  him:  God  with  his  offers  of  grace 
are  gone  for  ever,  and  the  world  with  its  joys  are  for 
ever  vanished,  while  the  wretched  and  malicious 
creatures  into  whose  company  he  is  hurried,  and 
who  wrere  the  tempters  or  associates  of  his  crimes, 
shall  stand  round  him  to  become  his  tormentors. 

III.  Though  death  will  awaken  sinful  souls  into 
a sharper  or  more  lively  sense  of  divine  and  heavenly 
things  than  ever  they  had  in  this  world,  yet  they  shall 
never  be  awakened  to  spiritual  life  and  holiness:  and 
I think  I may  add,  that  though  they  should  be  awa- 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


61 


kened  to  a sight  of  God,  and  his  justice  and  his  grace, 
to  a sight  of  heaven  and  hell,  more  immediate  and 
perspicuous  than  what  even  the  saints  themselves  usu- 
ally enjoy  in  this  life,  yet  they  would  remain  still  un- 
der the  bondage  of  their  lusts,  still  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  They  shall  for  ever  continue  unbeloved  of 
God  and  uncapable  of  all  the  happiness  of  the  hea- 
venly state,  because  they  are  for  ever  averse  to  the 
holiness  of  God,  and  themselves  for  ever  unholy.  It 
is  only  in  the  present  state  of  trial  and  under  the  pre- 
sent proposals  of  grace  that  sleeping  sinners  can  be 
awakened  into  the  spiritual  and  divine  life.  The 
voice  of  the  Son  of  God  that  breaks  the  monuments 
of  brass  and  makes  tombs  of  hardest  marble  yield  to 
his  call,  shall  never  break  one  heart  of  stone  which  is 
gone  down  to  death  in  its  native  and  sinful  hardness  : 
that  almighty  voice  that  must  awaken  the  nations  of 
the  dead  and  command  their  bodies  up  from  the 
grave,  shall  never  awaken  one  dead  soul  when  they 
are  past  the  limits  of  this  life.  The  compassionate 
calls  of  a Saviour  and  the  offers  of  mercy  are  then 
come  to  their  utmost  period : and  if  we  refuse  to  hear 
the  call  of  mercy  to  the  moment  of  death,  we  shall 
then  be  terribly  constrained  to  feel  the  loss  of  it,  but 
never  able  to  obtain  the  blessing. 

Obstinate  sleepers  shall  be  awakened  to  see  God, 
but  only  as  Balaam  was:  “ I shall  see  him,  but  not 
nigh,”  Numb.  xxiv.  17.  The  saints  in  this  life  have 
God  near  them  in  all  their  trials  as  a father  and  a 
friend  to  uphold,  to  comfort,  to  sanctify,  though  they 
see  him  but  darkly  through  a glass,  and  behold  but 
little  of  his  power  or  glory:  the  sinner  awaking  in 
hell  shall  perhaps  have  a clearer  and  more  acute  per- 
ception of  what  God  is  than  any  saint  on  earth:  but 
he  shall  behold  him  as  an  enemy  and  not  a friend : 
if  he  beholds  him  in  the  glory  of  his  grace,  it  is  at  a 
dreadful  and  insuperable  distance;  there  is  no  grace 
for  him:  he  sees  him  in  his  holiness,  but  he  cannot 
7 


62 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  " 


love  him:  he  has  no  meltings  of  true  penitence  for 
his  former  rebellions  against  God,  his  heart  is  hard- 
ened into  everlasting  enmity,  and  shall  never  taste 
of  his  love.  Hence  arise  all  the  foul  and  gnawing 
passions  of  envy,  malignity,  and  long  despair,  w hich 
are  the  very  image  of  Satan,  and  change  mankind 
into  devils. 

These  impenitent  sons  and  daughters  of  men  shall 
grow  into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  those  wicked 
spirits,  and  under  the  impressions  of  their  guilt  and 
damnation  they  shall  rival  those  apostate  and  cursed 
creatures  in  the  obstinate  hatred  of  God  and  all  that 
is  holy. 

IV.  Hence  it  will  follow,  in  the  last  place,  that  the 
sinner  who  is  “fast  asleep  in  his  sins  at  the  hour  of 
death  shall  awake  into  such  a life  as  is  worse  than 
dying.’’  He  shall  be  surprised  all  at  once  into  dark- 
ness and  fire  which  have  no  gleam  of  light,  and  sor- 
rows without  mitigation,  and  which  can  find  no  end. 
The  punishment  of  hell  is  not  called  eternal  death  to 
denote  a state  of  senseless  and  stupid  existence;  but 
death  being  the  most  opposite  to  life  and  all  the  enjoy- 
ments of  it,  the  misery  of  hell  is  described  by  death 
as  the  most  formidable  thing  to  nature,  as  a word  that 
puts  a period  to  all  the  enjoyments  of  this  mortal  life, 
and  stands  directly  opposite  to  a life  of  joy  and  glory 
in  the  immortal  w orld.  Happy  would  it  be  for  such 
souls  if  they  could  sink  into  an  everlasting  sleep  and 
grow  stupid  and  senseless  for  ever  and  ever;  but  this 
is  a favour  not  to  be  granted  to  those  who  have  been 
constant  and  unrepenting  rebels  against  the  law  and 
the  grace  of  God. 

The  moment  when  the  body  falls  asleep  in  death, 
the  soul  is  more  awake  than  ever  to  behold  its  own 
guilt  and  wretchedness.  It  has  then  such  a lively 
and  piercing  sense  of  its  own  iniquities  and  the  divine 
wrath  that  is  due  to  them,  as  it  never  saw  or  felt 
before.  The  inward  senses  of  the  soul  (if  I may  so 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


63 


express  it)  which  have  been  darkened  and  stupified 
and  benumbed  in  this  body,  are  all  awake  at  once 
when  the  veil  of  flesh  is  thrown  off,  and  the  curtains 
are  drawn  back  which  divide  them  from  the  world  of 
spirits.  Every  thought  of  sin  and  the  anger  of  God 
wounds  the  spirit  deep  in  this  awakened  state,  though 
it  scarce  felt  any  thing  of  it  before:  and  “a  wounded 
spirit  who  can  bear?”  Prov.  viii.  14.  But  sinners 
must  bear  it  days  without  end,  and  ages  without 
hope. 

Then  the  crimes  they  have  committed  and  the  sin- 
ful pleasures  they  have  indulged,  shall  glare  upon 
their  remembrance  and  stare  them  in  the  face  with 
dreadful  surprise;  and  each  of  them  is  enough  to 
drive  a soul  to  despair:  nor  can  they  turn  their  eyes 
away  from  the  horrid  sight,  for  their  criminal  prac- 
tices beset  them  around,  and  the  naked  soul  is  all  sight 
and  all  sense;  it  is  eye  and  ear  all  over;  it  hears  the 
dreadful  curses  of  the  law  and  the  sentence  of  the 
Judge,  and  never,  never  forgets  it.  This  is  the 
character,  these  the  circumstances  of  an  obstinate  sin- 
ner that  awakes  not  till  the  moment  of  death,  and 
lifts  up  his  eyes  in  hell,  as  our  Saviour  expresses  it: 
these  will  be  the  consequences  of  our  guilt  and  folly, 
if  we  are  found  in  a dead  sleep  of  sin  when  our  Lord 
comes  to  call  us  from  this  mortal  state. 

Secondly.  Let  us  spend  a few  thoughts  also  upon 
the  dangerous  and  unhappy  circumstances  of  those 
of  whom  we  may  have  some  reason  to  hope  they 
have  once  begun  religion  in  good  earnest,  and  are 
made  spiritually  alive,  but  have  indulged  them- 
selves in  drowsiness  and  worn  out  the  latter  end  of 
their  days  in  a careless,  secure  and  slothful  frame  of 
spirit. 

1.  If  they  have  had  the  principle  of  vital  religion 
wrought  in  their  hearts,  yet  by  these  criminal  slum- 
bers they  darken  or  lose  their  evidences  of  grace, 
and  by  this  means  they  cut  themselves  off  from  the 


(34 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


sweet  reflections  and  comforts  of  it  on  a dying  bed, 
when  they  have  most  need  of  them.  They  know 
not  whether  they  are  the  children  of  God  or  not,  and 
are  in  anxious  confusion  and  distressing  fear:  they 
have  scarce  any  plain  proofs  of  their  conversion  to 
God  and  the  evidences  of  true  Christianity  ready 
at  hand,  when  all  are  little  enough  to  support  their 
spirits:  they  have  not  used  themselves  to  search  for 
them  by  self-inquiry  and  to  keep  them  in  their  sight, 
and  therefore  they  are  missing  in  this  important  hour; 
they  have  not  been  wont  to  live  upon  their  heavenly 
hopes,  and  they  cannot  be  found  when  they  want 
them  to  rest  upon  in  death : they  die  therefore  almost 
like  sinners,  though  they  may  perhaps  have  been 
once  converted  to  holiness,  and  there  may  be  a root 
of  grace  remaining  in  them;  and  the  reason  is,  be- 
cause they  have  lived  too  much  as  sinners  do:  they 
have  given  too  great  and  criminal  an  indulgence  to 
the  vain  and  worldly  cares  or  the  trifling  amusements 
of  this  life;  these  have  engrossed  almost  all  their 
thoughts  and  their  time,  and  therefore  in  the  day  of 
death  they  fall  under  terrors  and  painful  apprehen- 
sions of  a doubtful  eternity  just  at  hand. 

If  we  have  not  walked  closely  with  God  in  this 
world,  we  may  wpll  be  afraid  to  appear  before  him 
in  the  next.  If  we  have  not  maintained  a constant 
converse  with  Jesus  our  Saviour  by  holy  exercises  of 
faith  and  hope,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  are  not  so  ready 
with  cheerfulness  and  joy  to  resign  our  departing 
spirits  into  his  hand.  It  is  possible  we  may  have  a 
right  to  the  inheritance  of  heaven,  having  had  some 
sight  of  it  by  faith  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  having 
in  the  main  chosen  it  for  our  portion  and  set  our  feet 
in  the  path  of  holiness  that  leads  to  it;  but  we  have 
so  often  wandered  out  of  the  way,  that  in  this 
awful  and  solemn  hour  we  shall  be  in  doubt  whether 
we  shall  be  received  at  the  gates  and  enter  into  the 
city. 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


65 


Such  un  watchful  Christians  have  not  kept  the  eter- 
nal glories  of  heaven  in  their  constant  and  active  pur- 
suit, they  have  not  lived  upon  them  as  their  portion 
and  inheritance,  they  have  been  too  much  strangers 
to  the  invisible  world  of  happiness,  and  they  know 
not  how  to  venture  through  death  into  it.  They  have 
built  indeed  upon  the  solid  foundation,  Christ  Jesus 
and  the  gospel,  but  they  have  mingled  so  much  hay 
and  stubble  with  the  superstructure,  that  when  they 
depart  hence,  or  when  they  appear  before  Christ  in 
judgment,  “they  shall  suffer  great  loss  by  the  burn- 
ing of  their  works,  yet  themselves  may  be  saved  so  as 
by  fire.”  1 Cor.  iii.  10 — 15.  They  may  pass  as  it 
were  by  the  flame  of  hell,  and  have  something  like  the 
scorching  terrors  of  it  in  death,  though  the  abound- 
ing and  forgiving  grace  of  the  gospel  may  convey  them 
safe  to  heaven : they  escape  as  a man  that  is  awakened 
with  the  sudden  alarms  of  fire,  who  suffers  the  loss 
of  his  substance,  and  a great  part  of  the  fruit  of  his 
labours,  and  just  saves  his  own  life.  They  plunge 
into  eternity,  and  make  a sort  of  terrible  escape  from 
hell. 

2.  They  can  never  expect  any  peculiar  favours 
from  heaven  at  the  hour  of  death,  no  special  visitations 
of  the  comforting  spirits,  nor  that  the  love  of  God  and 
the  joy  of  his  presence  should  attend  them  through 
the  dark  valley.  It  is  not  to  such  unwatchful  or 
sleepy  Christians  that  God  is  wont  to  vouchsafe  his 
choicest  consolations.  They  fall  under  terrible  fears 
about  the  pardon  of  their  sins,  when  they  stand  in 
most  need  of  the  sight  of  their  pardon;  and  Christas 
the  ruler  of  his  churches  sees  it  fit  they  should  be 
thus  punished  for  their  negligence.  They  lay  hold 
of  the  promises  of  mercy  with  a trembling  hand  and 
cannot  claim  them  by  a vigorous  faith,  because  they 
have  not  been  wont  to  live  upon  them,  nor  do  they 
see  those  holy  characters  in  their  own  hearts  and 
lives  which  confirm  their  title  to  them.  They  have  no 

7* 


06 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


bright  views  of  the  celestial  world  and  earnest  of  their 
salvation,  for  it  is  only  for  watchful  souls  that  these 
cordials  are  prepared  in  the  fainting  hour:  it  is  only 
to  the  watchful  Christian  that  these  fore-tastes  of 
glory  are  given.  “The  fruit  of  righteousness  is  peace, 
and  the  effect  of  righteousness  is  quietness  and  as- 
surance for  ever,”  Isa.  xxxii.  17:  “Blessed  is  he 
which  watcheth  and  keepeth  his  garments”  clean, 
that  he  may  enter  with  triumph  to  that  city,  where 
nothing  shall  enter  that  defileth. 

3.  Slumbering  and  slothful  Christians  are  often- 
times left  to  wrestle  with  sore  temptations  of  Satan, 
and  have  dreadful  conflicts  in  the  day  of  death: 
and  the  reason  is  evident,  because  they  have  not 
watched  against  their  adversary,  and  obtained  but 
few  victories  over  him  in  their  life.  These  tempta- 
tions are  keen  and  piercing  thorns  that  enter  deep 
into  the  heart  of  a dying  creature.  The  devil  may 
be  let  loose  upon  them  with  great  wrath,  knowing 
that  his  time  is  but  short;  and  yet  there  is  great  jus- 
tice in  the  conduct  of  the  God  of  heaven,  in  giving 
them  up  to  be  buffeted  by  the  powers  of  hell. 
What  frightful  agonies,  are  raised  in  the  conscience 
by  the  tempter  and  accuser  of  souls  on  a sick  or  dy- 
ing bed  can  hardly  be  described  by  the  living,  and 
are  known  only  to  those  who  have  felt  them  in  death. 

4.  Suph  drowsy  Christians  make  dismal  work  for 
new  and  terrible  repentance  on  a death-bed ; for 
though  they  have  sincerely  repented  in  times  past 
of  their  former  sins,  yet  having  too  much  omitted  the 
self-mortifying  duties,  having  given  too  much  indul- 
gence to  temptation  and  folly,  and  having  not  main- 
tained this  habitual  penitence  for  their  daily  offences 
in  constant  exercise,  their  spirits  are  now  filled  with 
fresh  convictions  and  bitter  remorse  of  heart.  The 
guilt  of  their  careless  and  slothful  conduct  finds  them 
out  now,  and  besets  them  around,  and  they  feel  most 
acute  sorrows  and  wounding  reflections  of  conscience, 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


67 


while  they  have  need  of  most  comfort.  What  a 
glorious  entrance  had  St.  Paul  into  the  world  of 
spirits  and  the  presence  of  Christ!  He  had  made  re- 
pentance and  mortification  and  faith  in  Jesus  his 
daily  work:  “O  wretched  man  that  I am!  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death?  I run,  I fight, 
I subdue  my  body  and  keep  it  under;  I am  crucified 
to  the  world  and  the  world  to  me ; the  life  which  I 
live  in  the  flesh,  I live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God:” 
when  he  was  ready  to  be  offered  up,  and  the  time  of 
his  departure  was  at  hand,  from  the  edge  of  the  sword 
and  the  borders  of  the  grave  he  could  look  back  upon 
his  former  life,  and  say,  “ I have  fought  the  good 
fight,  I have  finished  my  course,  I have  kept  the  faith, 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a crown  of  right- 
eousness which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  will 
give  me.”  2 Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

5.  The  unwat.chful  Christian,  at  the  hour  of  death, 
has  the  pain  and  anguish  of  reflecting,  that  he  has 
omitted  many  duties  to  God  and  man,  and  these  can 
never  be  performed  now;  that  he  has  done  scarce 
any  services  for  Christ  in  the  world,  and  those  must 
be  left  for  ever  undone  : there  is  no  further  work  or 
device,  no  labours  of  zeal,  no  activity  for  God  in  the 
grave  whither  we  are  hastening.  Eccl.  x.  10.  Alas! 
I have  brought  forth  but  little  fruit  to  God,  and  it  is 
well  if  I be  not  cast  away  as  an  unprofitable  servant. 
My  talents  have  lain  bound  up  in  rust,  or  been  but 
poorly  employed  whilst  I have  lain  slumbering  and 
unactive:  the  records  of  my  life  in  the  court  of  hea- 
ven will  show  but  very  little  service  for  God  amongst 
men:  I have  raised  few  monuments  of  praise  to  my 
Redeemer,  and  I can  never  raise  them  now.  I shall 
have  but  few  testimonies  for  my  love  and  zeal,  to  ap- 
pear in  the  great  day  of  account,  when  the  martyrs 
and  the  confessors  and  the  lively  Christians  shall  be 
surrounded  with  the  living  ensigns  of  their  victories 
over  sin  and  the  world,  and  their  glorious  services 


G8 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


for  their  Redeemer.  Wretch  that  I am ! that  I have 
loved  my  Lord  at  so  cold  a rate,  and  lain  slumbering 
on  a bed  of  ease  whilst  I should  have  been  fighting 
the  battles  of  the  Lord,  and  gaining  daily  honours 
for  my  Saviour ! 

6.  As  such  sort  of  Christians  give  but  little  glory 
to  God  in  life,  so  they  do  him  no  honour  in  death ; 
they  are  no  ornaments  to  religion  while  they  continue 
here,  and  leave  perhaps  but  little  comfort  with  their 
friends  when  they  go  hence:  doubtings  and  jealousies 
about  their  eternal  welfare  mingle  with  our  tears 
and  sorrows  for  a dying  friend;  these  anxious  fears 
about  the  departed  spirit  swell  the  tide  of  our  grief 
high,  and  double  the  inward  anguish.  They  are 
gone,  alas!  from  our  world,  but  we  know  not  whither 
they  are  gone,  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  A sad  farewell 
to  those  whom  we  love!  a dismal  parting-stroke  and 
a long  heart-ache! 

And  what  honour  can  be  expected  to  be  done  to 
God  or  his  Son,  what  reputation  or  glory  can  be 
given  to  religion  and  the  gospel  by  a drowsy  Chris- 
tian departing  as  it  were  under  a special  lethargy? 
he  dies  under  a cloud  and  casts  a gloom  upon  the 
Christian  faith.  St.  Paul  was  a man  of  another 
spirit,  a lively  and  active  saint,  full  of  vigour  and 
zeal  in  his  soul : it  was  the  holy  resolution  and  as- 
surance of  this  blessed  apostle,  “that  Christ  should 
be  magnified  in  his  body,  whether  by  life  or  death.” 
Phil.  i.  20.  He  spent  his  life  in  the  service  of 
Christ,  and  he  could  rejoice  in  death  as  his  gain.  It 
is  a glory  to  the  gospel  when  we  can  lie  down,  and 
die  with  courage  in  the  hope  of  its  promised  bless- 
ings. It  is  an  honour  to  our  common  faith,  when  it 
overcomes  the  terrors  of  death,  and  raises  the  Chris- 
tian to  a song  of  triumph  in  view  of  the  last  enemy. 
It  is  as  a new  crown  put  upon  the  head  of  our  Re- 
deemer, and  a living  cordial  put  into  the  hands  of 
mourning  friends  in  our  dying  hour,  when  we  can 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH, 


69 


take  our  leave  of  them  with  holy  fortitude,  rejoicing 
in  the  salvation  of  Christ.  No  sooner  does  he  call, 
but  we  are  ready,  and  can  answer  with  holy  trans- 
port, “Lord,  I come.”  This  is  a blessing  that 
belongs  only  to  the  watchful  Christian.  May  every 
one  of  us  be  awake  to  salvation  in  our  expiring  mo- 
ments, and  partake  of  this  glorious  blessedness! 

I proceed  now  to  a few  remarks,  and  particularly 
such  as  relate  to  the  necessity  and  duty  of  constant 
watchfulness,  and  the  hazardous  case  of  sleeping 
souls. 

1.  Remark.  To  presume  on  long  life  is  a most 
dangerous  temptation,  for  it  is  the  common  spring  and 
cause  of  spiritual  sleep  and  drowsiness.  Could  we 
take  an  inward  view  of  the  hearts  of  men,  and  trace 
out  the  springs  of  their  coldness  and  indifference 
about  eternal  things,  and  the  shameful  neglect  of  their 
most  important  interests,  we  should  find  this  secret 
thought  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  lhat  “we  are 
not  like  to  die  to-day  or  to-morrow.”  They  put  this 
evil  day  afar  off,  and  indulge  themselves  in  their  car- 
nal delights  without  due  solicitude  to  prepare  for  the 
call  of  God.  There  is  scarce  any  thing  produces  so 
much  evil  fruit  in  the  world,  so  much  shameful  wick- 
edness amongst  the  sensual  and  profane,  or  such  neg- 
lect of  lively  religion  amongst  real  Christians,  as  this 
bitter  root  of  presumption  upon  life  and  time  before 
us.  Matt.  xxiv.  48,  49:  The  evil  servant  did  not  be- 
gin to  “smite  his  fellows  and  to  eat  and  drink  with 
the  drunken,  till  he  said  in  his  heart,  My  Lord  delay- 
eth  his  coming  :”  it  was  while  the  bridegroom  tarried, 
and  they  imagined  he  would  tarry  longer,  that  even 
the  wise  virgins  fell  into  slumbers.  Ask  your  own 
heart,  my  friends  ; does  not  this  thought  secretly  lurk 
within  you  when  you  comply  with  a temptation, 
“Surely  I shall  not  die  yet;  I have  no  sickness  upon 
me,  nor  tokens  of  death,  I shall  live  a little  longer  and 
repent  of  my  follies?”  Vain  expectation  and  ground- 


70 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


less  fancy ! when  you  see  the  young  and  the  strong 
and  the  healthy  seized  away  from  the  midst  of  you, 
and  a final  period  put  at  once  to  all  their  works  and 
designs  in  this  life.  Yet  we  are  foolish  enough  to 
imagine  our  term  of  life  shall  be  extended,  and  we 
presume  upon  months  and  years  which  God  hath 
not  written  down  for  us  in  his  own  book,  and  which 
he  will  never  give  us  to  enjoy. 

We  are  all  borderers  upon  the  river  of  death  which 
conveys  us  into  the  eternal  world,  and  we  should  be 
ever  waiting  the  call  of  our  Lord,  that  we  may  launch 
away  with  joy  to  the  regions  of  immortality:  but 
thoughtless  creatures  that  we  are,  we  are  perpetually 
wandering  far  up  into  the  fields  of  sense  and  time, 
we  are  gathering  the  gay  and  fading  flowers  that 
grow  there,  and  filling  our  laps  with  them  as  a fair 
treasure,  or  making  garlands  for  ambition  to  crown 
our  brows,  till  one  and  another  of  us  is  called  off  on  a 
sudden  and  hurried  away  from  this  mortal  coast: 
those  of  us  who  survive  are  surprised  a little:  we  stand 
gazing,  follow  our  departing  friends  with  a weeping 
eye  for  a minute  or  two,  and  then  fall  to  our  amuse- 
ments again,  and  grow  busy,  as  before,  in  gathering 
the  flowers  of  time  and  sense.  O how  fond  we  are 
to  enrich  ourselves  with  these  perishing  trifles,  and 
adorn  our  heads  with  honours  and  withering  vanities, 
never  thinking  which  of  us  may  receive  the  next 
summons  to  leave  all  behind  us  and  stand  before 
God;  but  each  presumes,  it  will  not  be  sent  to  me. 
We  trifle  with  God  and  things  eternal,  or  utterly  for- 
get them,  while  our  hands  and  our  hearts  are  thus 
deeply  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  our  earthly  delights : 
all  our  powers  of  thought  and  action  are  intensely 
busied  amongst  the  dreams  of  this  life,  while  we  are 
asleep  to  God,  because  we  vainly  imagine  that  he 
will  not  call  us  yet. 

2.  Remark.  Whatsoever  puts  us  in  mind  of  dy- 
ing, should  be  improved  to  awaken  us  from  our 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  71 

spiritual  sleep.  Sudden  deaths  near  us  should  have 
this  effect;  our  young  companions  and  acquaint- 
ance snatched  away  from  us  in  an  unexpected 
hour  should  become  our  monitors  in  death,  and 
teach  us  this  divine  and  needful  lesson  : the  sur- 
prising loss  of  our  friends  who  lay  near  our  hearts, 
should  put  us  in  mind  of  our  own  departure,  and 
powerfully  awaken  us  from  our  dangerous  slum- 
bers. Sinners,  when  they  feel  no  sorrows,  think  of 
no  death ; but  when  the  judgments  of  God  are  in 
the  earth,  his  Spirit  can  awaken  the  inhabitants  of 
the  world  to  learn  righteousness.  At  such  season 
it  is  time  for  the  sinners  in  Zion  to  be  afraid,  and 
fearfulness  to  surprise  the  hypocrites.  Even  the 
children  of  God  have  sometimes  need  of  painful 
warning-pieces  to  awake  them  from  their  careless, 
their  slothful,  and  their  secure  frame:  and  as  for 
those  souls  who  are  indeed  awake  to  righteousness, 
and  lively  in  the  practice  of  all  religion  and  virtue, 
such  sudden  and  awful  strokes  of  Providence  have 
a happy  tendency  to  wean  them  from  creatures, 
and  keep  them  awake  to  God,  that  when  their  Lord 
comes  he  may  find  them  watching,  and  pronounce 
upon  them  everlasting  blessedness. 

3.  Remark.  No  person  can  be  exempted  from 
this  duty  of  watchfulness,  till  he  is  lord  of  his  own 
life,  and  can  appoint  the  time  of  his  own  dying. 
Then  indeed  you  might  have  some  colour  for  your 
carnal  indulgences,  some  pretence  for  sleeping*  if 
you  were  sovereign  of  death  and  the  grave,  and  had 
the  keys  in  your  own  hand. 

And  truly  such  as  venture  to  sleep  in  sin  do  in 
effect  say,.  We  are  lords  of  our  own  life : they  act 
and  manage  as  if  their  times  were  in  their  own 
hands,  and  not  in  the  hand  of  their  Maker:  but  the 
watchful  Christian  lives  upon  that  principle  which 
David  professes,  Psalm  xxxi.  15:  “My  times  are 
in  thine  hand,  O Lord;”  and  they  never  give  rest 


72 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


to  themselves  till  they  can  rejoice  with  him,  and  say 
to  the  Lord,  “Thou  art  my  God;  into  thy  hands  I 
commit  my  spirit,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  it,  and  I 
leave  it  to  thy  appointment  when  thou  wilt  dislodge 
me  from  this  body  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  call  me 
into  thy  more  immediate  presence.”  If  we  could 
but  resist  the  messenger  of  death  when  the  Lord 
of  hosts  has  sent  it,  if  we  could  shut  the  mouth  of 
the  grave  when  the  Son  of  God  has  opened  it  for  us 
with  the  key  that  is  intrusted  in  his  hand,  we  might 
say  then  to  our  souls,  “ Sleep  on  upon  your  bed  of 
ease  and  take  your  rest but  wo  be  to  those  who 
will  venture  to  sleep  in  an  unholy  and  unpardoned 
state,  or  even  allow  themselves  the  indulgence  of 
short  and  sinful  slumbers,  when  they  cannot  resist 
death  one  moment,  when  they  cannot  delay  the  sum- 
mons of  Heaven,  when  they  cannot  defer  their  appear 
ance  before  that  Judge,  whose  sentence  is  eternal 
pleasure  or  everlasting  pain. 

Our  holy  watch  must  not  be  intermitted  one  mo- 
ment, for  every  following  moment  is  a grand  uncer- 
tainty. There  is  no  minute  of  life,  no  point  of  time 
wherein  I can  say  I shall  not  die,  and  therefore  I 
should  not  dare  to  say,  this  minute  I shall  take  a short 
slumber.  What  if  my  Lord  should  summon  me 
while  he  finds  me  sleeping?  his  command  cannot  be 
disobeyed,  the  very  call  and  sound  of  it  divides  me 
from  flesh  and  blood  and  all  that  is  mortal,  and  sends 
me  at  once  into  the  eternal  world,  for  it  is  an  al- 
mighty voice. 

4.  Remark.  As  it  is  a foolish  and  dangerous  thing 
for  any  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  to  presume 
upon  long  life  and  neglect  their  watch,  so  persons 
under  some  peculiar  circumstances  are  eminently 
called  to  be  ever  wakeful.  Give  me  leave  hereto 
reckon  up  some  of  them,  and  make  a particular  ad- 
dress to  the  persons  concerned. 

(1.)  Is  your  constitution  of  body  weak  and  feeble? 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


73 


You  carry  then  a perpetual  warning  about  you 
never  to  indulge  sinful  drowsiness.  Every  languor 
of  nature  assures  you  that  it  is  sinking  to  the  dust: 
every  pain  you  feel  should  put  you  in  mind  that  the 
pains  of  death  are  ready  to  seize  you:  you  are 
entering  upon  the  very  borders  of  the  grave,  and  will 
you  venture  to  drop  in  before  your  hopes  of  life  and 
immortality  are  secured  in  a joyful  resurrection? 
You  pass  perhaps  many  nights  wherein  the  infirmi- 
ties of  your  flesh  will  not  suffer  you  to  sleep  and  to  take 
that  common  refreshment  of  nature,  and  shall  not  the 
same  infirmities  keep  you  awake  to  things  spiritual, 
and  rouse  all  your  thoughts  and  cares  about  your  im- 
mortal interests? 

(2.)  You  whose  circumstances  and  employments 
of  life  expose  you  to  perpetual  danger  either  by  land 
or  sea;  you  who  carry  your  lives  as  it  were  in  your 
hand,  and  are  often  in  a day  within  a few  inches  of 
death;  as  it  is  necessary  for  you  to  inquire  daily,  am 
I prepared  for  a departure  hence?  am  I ready  to  hear 
the  summons  of  my  Lord  and  ready  to  give  up  my  ac- 
count before  him?  A fall  from  a horse  or  a house- 
top may  send  you  to  the  pit  whence  there  is  no  re- 
demption; every  wind  that  blows,  and  every  rising 
wave  may  convey  you  into  the  eternal  world,  and  are 
you  ready  to  meet  the  great  God  in  such  a surprise 
and  without  warning? 

(3.)  You  who  are  young  and  vigorous  and  flourish 
amidst  all  the  gaieties  and  allurements  of  life,  you  are 
in  most  danger  of  being  lulled  asleep  in  sin,  and 
therefore  I addressed  you  lately  in  a funeral  discourse, 
when  the  present  providence  gave  each  of  you  a 
new  and  loud  call  to  awake,  and  I pray  God  you 
may  hear  his  voice  in  it. 

(4.)  Perhaps  others  of  you  are  arrived  at  old  age, 
and  the  course  of  nature  forbids  you  to  expect  a long 
continuance  in  the  land  of  the  living:  are  any  of  my 
hearers  ancient  sinners  and  asleep  still?  Venturous 
s 


74 


. SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


and  thoughtless  creatures!  that  have  grown  old  in 
slumber,  and  worn  out  their  whole  life  in  iniquity ! 
surely  it  is  time  for  you  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God  in  the  gospel,  and  accept  of  his  salvation: 
behold  the  Judge  is  at  the  door;  he  comes  speedily, 
and  he  will  not  tarry;  his  herald  of  death  is  just  at 
hand:  are  you  willing  that  he  should  seize  you  in  a 
deadly  sleep,  and  send  you  into  eternal  sorrows? 

And  let  aged  Christians  bestir  themselves  and 
awake  from  their  slothful  and  secure  frames  of  spirit, 
let  them  look  upward  to  the  crown  that  is  not  far  off, 
to  the  prize  that  is  almost  within  reach:  whatsoever 
your  hand  or  heart  find  to  do  for  God,  do  it  with  all 
your  zeal  and  might:  let  your  loins  be  girt  about, 
and  your  natural  powers  active  in  his  service,  let  your 
lamp  of  profession  be  bright  and  burning,  that  when 
Jesus  comes  you  may  receive  him  with  joy. 

(5.)  And  are  there  any  of  you  that  are  under  decays 
of  grace  and  piety,  that  are  labouring  and  wrestling 
with  strong  corruptions,  or  in  actual  conflict  with 
repeated  temptations  which  too  often  prevail  over 
you,  it  becomes  you  to  hear  the  watch-word  which 
Christ  often  gives  to  his  churches  under  such  circum- 
stances: make  haste  and  awake  unto  holiness,  be 
watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  that  remain  that 
are  ready  to  die;  hold  fast  what  thou  hast  received; 
remember  thy  first  affection  and  zeal,  and  repent  and 
mourn  for  what  thou  hast  lost,  lest  I come  upon  thee 
as  a thief,  and  thou  shaft  not  know  the  hour:  remember 
whence  thou  art  fallen  and  repent,  and  do  thy  first 
works,  for  thou  hast  lost  thy  first  love:  have  a care 
of  dangerous  lukewarmness  and  indifference  in  the 
things  of  religion.  This  is  the  very  temper  of  a 
sleepy  declining  Christian,  while  he  dreams  he  is 
rich  and  has  great  attainments,  take  heed  lest  pre- 
suming upon  thy  riches  and  thy  self-sufficiency,  thou 
shouldest  be  found  “ wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.”  Keep  your  souls  awake 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


75 


hourly,  and  be  upon  your  guard  against  every  adver- 
sary and  every  defilement,  lest  ye  be  seized  away  in 
the  commission  of  some  sin,  or  in  the  compliance  with 
some  foul  temptation.  The  drowsy  soldier  is  liable 
to  be  led  captive  and  to  die  in  fetters,  and  groan 
heavily  in  death.  But  blessed  is  the  watchful 
Christian;  he  shall  be  found  amongst  the  over- 
comers, and  shall  partake  of  the  rich  variety  of  Di- 
vine favours  which  are  contained  in  the  epistles  to 
the  seven  churches.  Rev.  ii.  and  iii. 

Though  the  greatest  part  of  a former  discourse 
has  been  describing  the  blessedness  of  a watchful 
Christian  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  this  I have  set 
before  you  the  sad  consequences  that  attend  sleepers 
(both  which  are  powerful  preservatives  against 
drowsiness)  yet  at  the  conclusion  of  this  sermon 
give  me  leave  to  add  a few  more  motives  to  the  duty 
of  watchfulness,  for  we  cannot  be  too  well  guarded 
against  the  danger  of  spiritual  sloth  and  security. 

Motive  1.  Our  natures,  at  best,  in  the  present 
state,  are  too  much  inclined  to  slumber.  We  are 
too  ready  to  fall  asleep  hourly : all  the  saints  on 
earth,  even  the  most  lively  and  active  of  them,  are 
not  out  of  danger  while  they  carry  this  flesh  and 
blood  about  them.  Indeed  the  best  of  Christians 
here  below  dwell  but  as  it  were  in  twilight,  and  in 
some  sense  they  may  be  described  as  persons  between 
sleeping  and  waking  in  comparison  of  the  world 
of  spirits.  We  behold  Divine  things  here  but 
darkly,  and  exert  our  spiritual  faculties  only  in  a 
feeble  manner:  it  is  only  in  the  other  world  that 
we  are  broad  awake,  and  in  the  perfect  and  un- 
restrained exercise  of  our  vital  powers;  there  only 
the  complete  life  and  vigour  of  a saint  appears. 
In  such  a drowsy  state  then  and  in  this  dusky  hour 
we  cannot  be  too  diligent  in  rousing  ourselves,  lest 
we  sink  down  into  dangerous  slumbers.  Besides, 
if  we  profess  to  be  children  of  the  light  and  of 


76 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


the  day  and  growing  up  to  a brighter  immortality, 
let  us  not  sleep  as  do  others  who  are  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  night  and  darkness.  1 Thess.  v.  4.  5. 

Motive  2.  Almost  every  thing  around  us  in  this 
world  of  sense  and  sin  tends  to  lull  us  asleep  again 
as  soon  as  we  begin  to  be  awake.  The  busy  or  the 
pleasant  scenes  of  this  temporal  life  are  ever  calling 
away  our  thoughts  from  eternal  things:  they  con- 
ceal from  us  the  spiritual  world,  and  close  our  eyes 
to  God  and  things  divine  and  heavenly.  If  the  eye 
of  the  soul  were  but  open  to  invisible  things,  what 
lively  Christians  should  we  be?  but  either  the  winds 
of  worldly  cares  rock  us  to  sleep,  or  the  charms 
of  worldly  pleasures  sooth  us  into  deceitful  slum- 
bers. We  are  too  ready  to  indulge  earthly  delights, 
and  while  we  dream  of  pleasure  in  the  creatures,  we 
lose  or  at  least  abate  our  delights  in  God.  Even 
the  lawful  satisfactions  of  flesh  and  sense,  and  the 
enticing  objects  round  about  us  may  attach  our  hearts 
so  fast  to  them  as  to  draw  us  down  into  a bed  of 
carnal  ease,  till  we  fall  asleep  in  spiritual  security, 
and  forget  that  we  are  made  for  heaven  and  that  our 
hope  and  our  home  is  on  high. 

Motive  3.  Many  thousands  have  been  found 
sleeping  at  the  call  of  Christ:  some  perhaps  in  a 
profound  and  deadly  sleep,  and  others  in  an  hour 
of  dangerous  slumber:  many  an  acquaintance  of 
ours  has  gone  down  to  the  grave  when  neither  they 
nor  we  thought  of  their  dying  at  such  a season. 
But  as  thoughtless  as  they  were,  they  were  never 
the  farther  from  the  point  of  death:  and  we  shudder 
with  horror  when  we  think  what  is  become  of  their 
souls. 

While  we  are  young  we  are  ready  to  please  our- 
selves with  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  flatter  our 
hopes  with  a long  succession  of  them.  We  suppose 
death  to  be  at  the  distance  of  fifty  or  threescore 
miles;  threescore  years  and  ten  is  the  appointed 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


77 


period;  but  alas!  how  few  are  there  whose  hopes 
are  fulfilled,  or  whose  life  is  extended  to  those  di- 
mensions? Perhaps  the  messenger  of  death  is  within 
a furlong  of  our  dwelling;  a few  more  steps  onward 
and  he  smites  us  down  to  the  dust. 

There  are  some  beautiful  verses  which  I have 
read  perhaps  thirty  years  ago,  wherein  the  ingenious 
author  describes  the  different  stages  of  human  life 
under  the  image  of  a fair  prospect  or  landscape, 
and  death  is  placed  by  mistaken  mortals  afar  off 
beyond  them  all.  Since  the  lines  return  now  upon 
my  remembrance,  I will  repeat  them  here  with  some 
small  alteration.  They  are  as  follow: 

Life  and  the  scenes  that  round  it  rise, 

Share  in  the  same  uncertainties ; 

Yet  still  we  hug  ourselves  with  vain  presage 
Of  future  days  serene  and  long, 

Of  pleasures  fresh  and  ever  strong, 

An  active  youth  and  slow  declining  age. 


Like  a fair  prospect  still  we  make 
Things  future  pleasing  forms  to  take ; 

First  verdant  meads  arise  and  flow’ry  fields  ; 

Cool  groves  and  shady  copses  here, 

There  brooks  and  winding  streams  appear, 
While  change  of  objects  still  new  pleasure  yields. 

Farther  fine  castles  court  the  eye, 

There  wealth  and  honours  we  espy ; 

Beyond,  a huddled  mixture  fills  the  stage, 

Till  the  remoter  distance  shrouds 
The  plains  with  hills,  those  hills  with  clouds, 
There  we  place  death  behind  old  shivering  age. 

When  death,  alas,  perhaps  too  nigh, 

In  the  next  hedge  doth  skulking  lie, 

There  plants  his  engines,  thence  lets  fly  his  dart, 
Which  while  we  ramble  without  fear, 

Will  stop  us  in  our  full  career, 

And  force  us  from  our  airy  dreams  to  part. 

8* 


78 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


How  fond  and  vain  are  our  imaginations,  when 
we  have  seen  others  called  away  on  a sudden  from 
the  early  scenes  of  life,  to  promise  ourselves  a long 
continuance  here ! We  have  the  same  feeble  bodies, 
the  same  tabernacles  of  clay  that  others  have,  and 
we  are  liable  to  many  of  the  same  accidents  or 
casualties:  the  same  killing  diseases  are  at  work  in 
our  natures,  and  why  should  we  imagine  or  pre- 
sume that  others  should  go  so  much  before  us? 

And  if  we  inquire  of  ourselves  as  to  character  or 
merit,  or  moral  circumstances  of  any  kind,  and  com- 
pare ourselves  with  those  that  are  gone  before,  what 
foundation  have  we  to  promise  ourselves  a longer 
continuance  here?  Have  we  not  the  same  sins  or 
greater  to  provoke  God?  Are  we  more  useful  in 
the  world  than  they,  and  do  more  service  for  his 
name?  May  not  God  summon  us  off  the  stage  of 
life  on  a sudden  as  well  as  others?  What  are  we 
better  than  they  ? Are  we  not  as  much  under  the 
sovereign  disposal  of  the  great  God  as  any  of  our 
acquaintance  who  have  been  seized  in  the  flower 
and  prime  of  life,  and  called  away  in  an  unexpected 
hour?  And  what  power  have  we  to  resist  the  seizure, 
or  what  promise  to  hope  that  God  will  delay  longer? 
Let  us,  then,  no  more  deceive  ourselves  with  vain 
imaginations,  but  each  of  us  awake  and  bestir  our- 
selves, as  though  we  were  the  next  persons  to  be 
called  away  from  this  assembly,  and  to  appear  next 
before  the  Lord. 

Motive  4.  When  we  are  awake  we  are  not  only 
fitter  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  to  call  us  away  by 
death,  and  fitter  for  his  appearance  to  the  great 
judgment,  but  we  are  better  prepared  also  to  attend 
him  in  every  call  to  present  duty,  and  more  ready 
to  meet  his  appearance  in  every  providence.  It  is 
the  Christian  soldier  who  is  ever  awake  and  on  his 
guard  that  is  only  fit  for  every  sudden  appointment 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


79 


to  new  stations  and  services:  he  is  more  prepared 
for  any  post  of  danger  and  hazardous  enterprise, 
and  better  furnished  to  sustain  the  roughest  assaults. 
We  shall  be  less  shocked  at  sudden  afflictions  here 
on  earth,  if  our  souls  keep  heaven  in  view,  and  are 
ready  winged  for  immortality.  When  we  are  fit 
to  die  we  are  fit  to  live  also,  and  to  do  better  service 
for  God  in  whichsoever  of  his  worlds  he  shall  please 
to  appoint  our  station.  My  business,  O!  Father, 
and  my  joy  is  to  do  thy  will,  among  the  sons  of  mor- 
tality, or  among  the  spirits  of  the  blessed  on  high. 

Motive  5.  Let  us  remember  we  have  slept  too 
long  already  in  days  past,  and  it  is  but  a little  while 
that  we  are  called  to  watch.  We  have  wore  away 
too  much  of  our  life  in  sloth  and  drowsiness.  The 
night  is  far  spent  with  many  of  us,  the  day  is  at  hand; 
“It  is  now  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep,  for  now 
is  our  salvation  nearer  than  when  we  first  believed.” 
Rom.  xiii.  11,  12.  Another  hour  or  two,  and  the 
night  will  be  at  an  end  with  us,  Jesus  the  morning 
star  is  just  appearing.  What!  can  we  not  watch 
one  hour?  O happy  souls  that  keep  themselves 
awake  to  God  in  the  midst  of  this  dreaming  world! 
Happy  indeed  when  our  Lord  shall  call  us  out  of 
these  dusky  regions,  and  we  shall  answer  his  call 
with  holy  joy  and  spring  upward  to  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light!  Then  all  the  seasons  of 
darkness  and  slumbering  will  be  finished  for  ever: 
thejre  is  no  need  of  laborious  watchfulness  in  that 
world,  where  there  is  no  flesh  and  blood  to  hang 
heavy  upon  the  spirit;  but  the  sanctified  powers 
of  the  soul  are  all  life,  and  immortal  vigour.  There 
is  no  want  of  the  sun-beams  to  make  their  day -light 
or  to  irradiate  that  city;  the  glory  of  God  enlightens 
it  with  divine  splendours,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light 
thereof:  no  inhabitant  can  sleep  under  such  a 
united  blaze  of  grace  and  glory : no  faintings  of 


80 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 


nature,  no  languors  or  weariness  are  found  in 
all  that  vital  climate;  every  citizen  is  for  ever 
awake  and  busy  under  the  beams  of  that  glorious 
day;  zeal,  and  love,  and  joy,  are  the  springs  of  their 
eternal  activity,  and  there  is  no  night  there. 


( 81  ) 


DISCOURSE  IV. 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


2 Thess.  i.  10. 

When  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints , and  admired  in 
all  them  that  believe. 

How  mean  and  contemptible  soever  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  might  appear  heretofore  on  earth,  yet 
there  is  a day  coming  when  he  shall  make  a glori- 
ous figure  in  the  sight  of  men  and  angels.  How 
little  soever  the  saints  be  esteemed  in  our  day,  and 
look  poor  and  despicable  in  an  ungodly  world,  yet 
there  is  an  hour  approaching  when  they  shall  be  glo- 
rious beyond  all  imagination,  and  Christ  himself 
shall  be  glorified  in  them.  In  that  day  shall  the  Lord 
our  Saviour  be  the  object  of  adoration  and  wonder, 
not  among  those  of  the  sons  of  men  that  have  believed 
on  him,  but  before  all  the  intellectual  creation,  and 
that  upon  the  account  of  his  grace  manifested  in  his 
believers. 

The  natural  inquiry  that  arises  here  is  this,  What 
particular  instances  of  the  grace  of  Christ  in  his  saints 


82 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


shall  be  the  matter  of  our  admiration  and  his  glory 
in  that  day  ? 

To  this  I shall  propose  an  answer  under  the  fol- 
lowing particulars: 

First,  It  is  a matter  of  pleasing  wonder,  that  per- 
sons of  all  characters  should  have  been  united  in  one 
faith  and  persuaded  to  trust  in  the  same  Saviour  and 
embrace  the  same  salvation;  for  some  of  all  sorts 
shall  stand  in  that  blessed  assembly.  Then  it  shall 
be  a fruitful  spring  of  wonder  and  glory  that  men  of 
various  nations  and  ages,  of  different  tempers,  ca- 
pacities, and  interests,  of  contrary  educations  and 
contrary  prejudices,  should  believe  one  gospel  and 
trust  in  one  deliverer  from  hell  and  death:  that  the 
sprightly,  the  studious  and  the  stupid ; the  wise  and 
the  foolish  should  relish  and  rejoice  in  the  same  sub- 
lime truths  not  only  concerning  the  true  God,  but 
also  concerning  Jesus  the  Redeemer;  the  barbarian 
and  the  Roman,  the  Greek  and  the  Jew  should  ap- 
prove and  receive  the  same  doctrines  of  salvation, 
that  they  should  come  into  the  same  sentiments  in  the 
matters  of  religion,  and  live  upon  them  as  their  only 
hope. 

Astonishing  spectacle!  when  the  dark  and  savage 
inhabitants  of  Africa,  and  our  forefathers  the  rugged 
and  warlike  Britons,  from  the  end  of  the  earth,  shall 
appear  in  that  assembly  with  some  of  the  polite  na- 
tions of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  each  of  them  shall 
glory  in  having  been  taught  to  renounce  the  gods  of 
their  ancestors,  and  the  demons  which  they  once 
worshipped,  and  shall  rejoice  in  Jesus  the  King  of 
Israel,  and  in  Jehovah  the  everlasting  God. 

The  conversion  of  the  Gentile  world  to  Christianity 
is  a matter  of  glorious  wonder,  and  shall  appear  to 
be  so  in  that  great  day:  that  those  who  had  been  edu- 
cated to  believe  many  gods  or  no  God  at  all,  should 
renounce  atheism  and  idolatry,  and  adore  the  true 
God  only;  and  those  that  were  taught  to  sacrifice  to 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


83 


idols  and  to  atone  for  their  own  sins  with  the 
blood  of  beasts,  should  trust  in  one  sacrifice  and  the 
atoning  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  Here  shall  stand 
a believing  atheist,  and  there  a converted  idolater, 
as  monuments  of  the  almighty  power  of  his  grace. 

There  shall  shine  also  in  that  assembly  here  and 
there  a prince  and  a philosopher,  though  “not  many 
wise,  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty  are  called  :” 
and  they  shall  be  matter  of  wonder  and  glory:  that 
princes  wTho  love  no  control  should  bow  their  scep- 
tres and  their  souls  to  the  royalty  and  godhead  of  the 
poor  man  of  Nazareth  : that  the  heathen  philoso- 
phers who  have  been  used  only  to  yield  to  reason 
should  submit  their  understandings  to  divine  revela- 
tion,  even  when  it  has  something  above  the  powers 
and  discoveries  of  reason  in  it. 

It  shall  raise  our  holy  wonder  too  when  we  shall 
behold  some  of  the  Jewish  priests  and  Pharisees  who 
became  converts  to  the  Christian  faith,  adorning  the 
triumph  of  that  day.  The  Jewish  Pharisees  who  ex- 
pected a glorious  temporal  prince  for  their  Messiah, 
that  they  should  at  last  own  the  son  of  a carpenter 
for  their  teacher,  their  Saviour,  and  their  king;  that 
they  should  veil  the  pride  of  their  souls  and  acknow- 
ledge a parcel  of  poor  fishermen  for  his  chief  minis- 
ters of  state,  and  receive  them  as  ambassadors  to  the 
world.  That  those  who  thought  they  w^ere  righteous, 
and  boasted  in  it,  should  renounce  their  boastings  and 
their  righteousness,  and  learn  to  expect  salvation  and 
life  for  themselves  from  the  death  and  righteousness 
of  another:  that  they  who  once  called  the  cross  of 
Christ  folly  and  weakness,  should  come  to  see  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  a crucified  man,  and 
believe  him  who  hung  upon  a tree  as  an  accursed 
creature  to  be  Emanuel,  God  with  us,  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  and  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 

“Surely,”  shall  men  and  angels  say  in  that  day, 
“these  were  the  effects  of  an  Almighty  power;  it 


84 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


was  the  work  of  God  the  Saviour,  and  it  is  marvel- 
lous in  our  eyes.”  With  united  voices  shall  all  the 
saints  confess,  u Flesh  and  blood  has  not  revealed 
this  unto  us,  but  the  Spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  of  God  the  Father.  We  had  perished  in  our 
folly,  but  Christ  has  been  made  wisdom  to  us;  we 
were  in  darkness  and  lay  under  the  shadow  of  death, 
but  Christ  has  given  us  light.”  1 Cor.  i.  30.  ~Eph. 
v.  14. 

Come,  all  ye  saints  of  these  later  ages,  upon  whom 
the  ends  of  the  world  are  come,  raise  your  heads  with 
me,  and  look  far  backwards  even  to  the  beginning  of 
time  and  the  days  of  Adam ; for  the  believers  of  all  ages 
as  well  as  of  all  nations,  shall  appear  together  in  that 
day,  and  acknowledge  Jesus  the  Saviour:  according 
to  the  brighter  or  darker  discoveries  of  the  age  in 
which  they  lived,  he  has  been  the  common  object 
of  their  faith.  Ever  since  he  was  called  the  seed 
of  the  woman  till  the  time  of  his  appearance  in  the 
flesh,  all  the  chosen  of  God  have  lived  upon  his 
grace,  though  multitudes  of  them  never  knew  his 
name.  It  is  true,  the  greater  part  of  that  illustrious 
company  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ  lived  since  the 
time  of  his  incarnation  (for  the  great  multitude  which 
no  man  could  number  is  derived  from  the  Gentile  na- 
tion. Rev.  vii.  9.)  Yet  the  ancient  patriarchs  with 
the  Jewish  prophets  and  saints  shall  make  a splen- 
did appearance  there:  one  hundred  and  forty -four 
thousand  are  sealed  among  the  tribes  of  Israel : these 
of  old  embraced  the  gospel  in  types  and  shadows; 
but  now  their  eyes  behold  Christ  Jesus  the  substance 
and  the  truth.  In  the  days  of  their  flesh  they  read 
his  name  in  dark  lines,  and  looked  through  the  long 
glass  of  prophecy  to  distant  ages,  and  a Saviour  to 
come,  and  now  behold  they  find  complete  ajid  cer- 
tain salvation  and  glory  in  him.  These  all  died  in 
faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having 
seen  them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


85 


embraced  them.  Heb.  xi.  13.  They  died  in  the 
hope  of  this  salvation,  and  they  shall  arise  in  the 
blessed  possession  of  it. 

Behold  Abraham  appearing  there,  the  father  of 
the  faithful,  who  saw  the  day  of  Christ  and  rejoiced 
to  see  it,  who  trusted  in  his  Son  Jesus  two  thousand 
years  before  he  was  born:  his  elder  family  the 
pious  Jews  surround  him  there,  and  we  his  younger 
children  among  the  Gentiles,  shall  stand  with  him 
as  the  followers  of  his  faith,  who  trust  iri  the  same 
Jesus  almost  two  thousand  years  after  he  is  dead. 
How  shall  we  both  rejoice  to  see  this  brightest  day 
of  the  Son  of  man,  and  congratulate  each  other’s* 
faith,  while  our  eyes  meet  and  centre  in  him  and  our 
souls  triumph  in  the  sight,  and  love,  and  enjoyment 
of  him  whom  we  believed!  How  admirable  and  di- 
vinely glorious  shall  our  Lord  himself  appear,  on. 
whom  every  eye  is  fixed  with  unutterable  delight,  in 
whom  the  faith  of  distant  countries  and  ages  is  cen- 
tred and  reconciled,  and  in  whom  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  appear  to  be  blessed  according  to  the  an- 
cient word  of  promise.  Gen.  xv.  and  xvii. 

Secondly,  It  is  a further  occasion  of  pleasing 
wonder,  that  so  many  wicked  obstinate  wills  of  men 
and  so  many  perverse  affections  should  be  bowed 
down  and  submit  themselves  to  the  holy  rules  of 
the  gospel.  This  is  another  instance  of  the  grace  of 
Christ,  and  shall  be  the  subject  of  our  joyful  admira- 
tion. Every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam  by  nature 
is  averse  to  God,  inclined  to  sin,  a child  of  disobe- 
dience and  death.  Eph.  ii.  2.  There  is  a new  mi- 
racle wrought  by  Christ  in  every  instance  of  con- 
verting grace,  and  he  shall  have  the  glory  of  them 
all  in  that  day.  It  is  a first  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  it  is  a new  creation,  and  the  Almighty  power 
shall  then  be  publicly  adored. 

Then  one  shall  say,  “I  was  a sensual  sinner, 
drenched  in  liquor  and  unclean  lusts,  and  wicked 
9 


86 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


in  all  the  forms  of  lewdness  and  intemperance:  the 
grace  of  God  my  Saviour  appeared  to  me  and  taught 
me  to  deny  worldly  lusts,  which  I once  thought  I 
could  never  have  parted  with.  I loved  my  sins  as 
my  life,  but  he  has  persuaded  and  constrained  me  to 
cut  off  my  right  hand,  and  to  pluck  out  a right  eye, 
and  to  part  with  my  darling  vices;  and  behold  me 
here  a monument  of  his  saving  mercy. 

I was  envious  against  my  neighbour,  (shall  another 
say)  and  my  temper  was  malice  and  wrath ; revenge 
was  mingled  with  my  constitution,  and  I thought  it 
no  iniquity : but  I bless  the  name  of  Christ  my  Re- 
deemer, who  in  the  day  of  his  grace  turned  my 
wrath  into  meekness;  he  inclined  me  to  love  even 
my  enemies,  and  to  pray  for  them  that  cursed  me; 
he  taught  me  all  this  by  his  own  example,  and  he 
made  me  learn  it  by  the  sovereign  influences  of  his 
Spirit..  I am  a wonder  to  myself,  when  I think 
what  once  I was:  amazing  change  and  Almighty 
grace!” 

Then  a third  shall  confess,  “I  was  a profane 
wretch,  a swearer,  a blasphemer:  I hoped  for  no 
heaven  and  I feared  no  hell;  but  the  Lord  seized 
me  in  the  midst  of  my  rebellions,  and  sent  his 
arrows  into  my  soul;  he  made  me  feel  the  stings 
of  an  awakened  conscience,  and  constrained  me  to 
believe  there  was  a God  and  a hell,  till  I cried  out, 
What  shall  I do  to  be  saved?  Then  he  led  me  to 
partake  of  his  own  salvation,  and  from  a proud  re- 
bellious infidel  he  has  made  me  a penitent  and  an 
humble  believer,  and  here  I stand  to  show  forth  the 
wonders  of  his  grace  and  the  boundless  extent  of  his 
forgiveness.” 

A fourth  shall  stand  up  and  acknowledge  in  that 
day,  “And  I was  a poor  carnal  covetous  creature 
who  made  this  world  my  God,  and  abundance  of 
money  was  my  heaven;  but  he  cured  me  of  this 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


87 


vile  idolatry  of  gold,  taught  me  how  to  obtain 
treasures  in  the  heavenly  world,  and  to  forsake  all 
on  earth  that  I might  have  an  inheritance  there; 
and  behold  he  has  not  disappointed  my  hope : I am 
now  made  rich  indeed,  and  I must  for  ever  speak  his 
praises.” 

There  shall  be  no  doubt  or  dispute  in  that  day, 
whether  it  was  the  power  of  our  own  will,  or  the 
superior  power  of  divine  grace  that  wrought  the 
blessed  change,  that  turned  a lion  into  a lamb,  a 
grovelling  earth-worm  into  a bird  of  paradise,  and 
of  a covetous  or  malicious  sinner  made  a meek  and 
a heavenly  saint.  The  grace  of  Christ  shall  be  so 
conspicuous  in  every  glorified  believer  in  that  as- 
sembly, that  with  one  voice  they  shall  all  shout  to 
the  praise  and  glory  of  his  grace;  “ Not  to  us,  O Lord, 
not  to  us,  but  to  thy  name  be  all  the  honour.’’  Psalm 
cxv.  1. 

Thirdly,  It  shall  be  the  matter  of  our  wonder, 
and  the  glory  of  Christ  in  that  day,  that  so  many 
thousand  guilty  wretches  should  be  made  righteous 
by  one  righteousness,  cleansed  in  one  laver  from  all 
their  iniquities  and  sprinkled  unto  pardon  and  sanc- 
tification with  the  blood  of  one  man  Jesus  Christ. 
See  the  “great  multitude  that  no  man  can  number,” 
Rev.  vii.  9,  10.  They  all  “washed  their  robes  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,”  ver. 
14. 

It  is  a matter  of  wonder  to  us  now  on  earth,  that 
the  blessed  Son  of  God  who  is  one  with  the  Father, 
should  stoop  so  low  as  to  unite  himself  to  a mortal 
nature,  that  he  should  become  a poor  despicable 
man,  and  pass  through  a life  of  sufferings  and  sor- 
rows, and  die  an  accursed  death  to  redeem  us  from 
guilt  and  deserved  misery:  but  when  we  shall  see 
him  in  his  native  glory  and  lustre,  his  acquired 
dignities  and  all  the  honours  of  heaven  heaped 


„ 88 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


upon  him,  it  will  raise  our  wonder  high  to 
that  such  a one  should  once  humble  himself  to  the 
death  of  the  cross,  the  death  of  the  vilest  slave,  that 
he  might  save  our  souls  from  dying;  that  he  should 
pour  out  his  own  blood  to  wash  off  the  stains  of  mil- 
lions of  sins,  that  we  might  appear  righteous  before 
a God  of  holiness.  Then  sha 
saved  join  in  that  song,  “To 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood/  be  glory 
and  dominion  for  ever,”  Rev.  i.  5,  6.  “Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches, 
and  honour,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  us  with  thy 
blood  from  every  kindred,  tribe,  and  nation.’*  Rev.  v. 

Then  shall  those  blessed  words  of  scripture  ap- 
pear and  shine  in  full  glory,  howsoever  they  are  often 
passed  over  in  silence  and  too  much  forgotten  in  our 
age.  Rom.  v.  17, 19,  21.  “If  by  one  man’s  offence, 
death  reigned  by  one ; much  more  they  which  re- 
ceive abundance  of  grace  and  of  the  gift  of  righteous- 
ness shall  reign  in  life  by  one  Jesus  Christ.  For  as 
by  one  man’s  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners: 
so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made 
righteous.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death, 
even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness 
unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.”  Then 
shall  our  blessed  Lord  shine  in  the  complete  lustre 
of  that  incommunicable  name,  Jehovah  Tzidkenu, 
“The  Lord  our  righteousness.”  Jer.  xxiii.  6. 

And  not  only  the  atonement  and  salvation  itself 
shall  be  the  subject  of  our  glorious  admiration,  but 
the  way  and  manner  how  sinners  partake  of  it  shall 
minister  further  to  our  wonder  and  to  the  glory  of 
Christ.  That  such  a world  of  poor  miserable 
creatures  should  be  saved  from  hell  by 
or  trusting  in  grace  when  they  could  never 
saved  by  all  their  own  works:  that  they  should 
obtain  righteousness  and  acceptance  unto  eternal 


think 


1 the  multitude  of  the 
aim  that  loved  us  and 


believing 

o 

be 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


89 


life  by  an  humble  penitence  and  poverty  of  spirit  de- 
pending- on  the  death  and  righteousness  of  ano- 
ther, when  all  their  labour  and  toil  in  works  of  the 
law  could  not  make  up  a righteousness  of  their  own 
sufficient  to  appear  before  the  justice  of  God;  Christ 
will  not  only  be  glorified  in  their  holiness  as  saints, 
but  admired  and  honoured  in  and  by  their  faith  as 
believers.  His  blood  and  his  grace  shall  share  all 
the  glory.  “ Therefore  it  is  of  faith,  and  not  of 
works,  that  it  might  be  of  grace.”  Rom.  iv.  15.  Yet 
this  saving  faith  is  the  spring  of  shining  holiness  in 
every  believer.  Duties  and  virtues  are  not  left  out 
of  our  religion  when  faith  is  brought  into  it.  The 
graces  of  the  saints  join  happily  with  the  atonement 
of  Christ  to  render  that  day  more  illustrious. 

Fourthly,  That  a company  of  such  feeble  Chris- 
tians should  maintain  their  course  towards  heaven 
through  so  many  thousand  obstacles:  this  shall  be 
another  subject  of  admiration,  and  yield  a further 
revenue  of  glory  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  for  he 
who  is  their  “righteousness  is  their  strength  also,” 
Isa.  xlv.  24,  25.  In  the  Lord  shall  all  the  seed  of 
Israel  glory  in  that  day  as  their  strength  and  their 
salvation.  They  have  broke  through  all  their  dif- 
ficulties, and  “were  able  to  do  all  things  through 
Christ  strengthening  them,”  Phil.  iv.  13. 

Behold  that  noble  army  with  palms  in  their  hands: 
once  they  were  weak  warriors,  yet  they  overcame 
mighty  enemies,  and  have  gained  the  victory  and 
the  prize  : enemies  rising  from  earth  and  from  hell 
to  tempt  and  to  accuse  them,  but  “ they  overcame 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.”  Rev.  xii.  7,  11.  What 
a divine  honour  shall  it  be  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  captain  of  our  salvation,  that  weak  Christians 
should  subdue  their  strong  corruptions  and  get  safe 
to  heaven  through  a thousand  oppositions  within 
and  without:  it  is  all  owing  to  the  grace  of  Christ, 

9* 


90 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


that,  grace  which  is  all-sufficient  for  every  saint,  2 
Cor.  xii.  9 : “ They  are  made  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  has  loved  them.”  Rom.  viii.  38. 

Then  shall  the  faith  and  courage  and  patience  of 
the  saints  have  a blessed  review ; and  it  shall  be 
told  before  the  whole  creation  what  strife  and  wrest- 
lings a poor  believer  has  passed  through  in  a dark 
cottage,  a chamber  of  long  sickness,  or  perhaps  in  a 
dungeon;  how  he  has  there  combated  with  powers  of 
darkness,  how  he  has  struggled  with  huge  sorrows ; 
and  has  been  often  in  heaviness  through  manifold 
temptations.  Then  shall  appear  the  bright  scene 
which  St.  Peter  represents  as  the  event  of  sore  trials. 
1 Pet.  i.  6,  7.  When  our  faith  has  been  tried  in 
the  fire  of  tribulation  and  is  found  more  precious 
than  gold,  it  shall  shine  to  the  praise,  honour,  and 
glory  of  the  suffering  saints,  and  of  Christ  himself  at 
his  appearance. 

Behold  that  illustrious  troop  of  martyrs,  and  some 
among  them  of  the  feebler  sex  and  of  tender  age : 
now  that  women  should  grow  bold  in  faith,  even  in 
the  sight  of  torments,  and  children  with  a manly 
courage  should  profess  the  name  of  Christ  in  the  face 
of  angry  and  threatening  rulers ; that  some  of  these 
should  become  undaunted  confessors  of  the  truth, 
and  others  triumph  in  fire  and  torture,  these  things 
shall  be  matter  of  glory  to  Christ  in  that  day  : it  was 
his  power  that  gave  them  courage  and  victory  in  mar- 
tyrdom and  death.  Every  Christian  there,  every 
soldier  in  that  triumphing  army  shall  ascribe  his  con- 
quest to  the  grace  of  his  Lord  his  leader,  and  lay 
down  all  their  trophies  at  the  feet  of  his  Saviour  with 
humble  acknowledgment  and  shouts  of  honour. 

Almost  all  the  saved  number  were  at  some  part  of 
their  lives  weak  in  faith,  and  yet  by  the  grace  of  Christ 
they  held  out  to  the  end,  and  are  crowned.  “I  was  a 
poor  trembling  creature,”  shall  one  say,  “but  I was 
confirmed  in  my  faith  and  holiness  by  the  gospel  of 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


91 


Christ,  or  I rested  on  a naked  promise,  and  found 
support  because  Christ  was  there ; and  he  shall  have 
the  glory  of  it.”  “In  him  are  all  the  promises,  yea, 
and  in  him  Amen,  to  the  glory  of  his  Father,”  2 Cor. 
i.  20,  21,  22,  and  the  Son  shall  share  in  this  glory, 
for  he  died  to  ratify  these  promises  and  he  lives  to  ful- 
fil them. 

“Oh  what  an  almighty  arm  is  this,”  shall  the  be- 
liever say,  “ that  has  borne  up  so  many  thousands 
of  poor  sinking  creatures  and  lifted  their  heads  above 
the  waves?”  The  spark  of  grace  that  lived  many 
years  in  a flood  of  temptations  and  was  not  quenched, 
shall  then  shine  bright  to  the  glory  of  Christ,  who 
kindled  and  maintained  it.  When  we  have  been 
brought  through  all  the  storms  and  the  threatening 
seas,  and  yet  the  raging  waves  have  been  forbid  to 
swallow  us  up,  we  shall  cry  out  in  raptures  of  joy 
and  wonder,  “ What  manner  of  man  is  this  that, 
the  winds  and  the  seas  have  obeyed  him?” 

Then  shall  it  be  gloriously  evident  that  he  has 
conquered  Satan  and  kept  the  hosts  of  hell  in  chains, 
when  it  shall  appear  that  he  has  made  poor  mean 
trembling  believers  victorious  over  all  the  powers 
of  darkness,  for  the  Prince  of  peace  has  bruised  him 
under  their  feet. 

Fifthly,  There  is  more  work  for  our  wonder  and 
joy,  and  more  glory  for  our  blessed  Lord,  when  we 
shall  see  that  so  many  dark  and  dreadful  provi- 
dences were  working  together  in  mercy  for  the 
good  of  the  saints:  it  is  because  Jesus  Christ  had 
the  management  of  them  all  put  into  his  hand;  and 
we  shall  acknowledge  “ he  has  done  all  things  well.” 
Rom.  viii.  28:  “All  things  have  wrought  together 
for  good.”  It  is  the  voice  of  Christ  to  every  saint 
in  sorrow,  “What  I do  thou  knowest  not  now;  but 
thou  shalt  know  hereafter.”  John  xiii.  7.  I saw 
not  then,  saith  the  Christian,  that  my  Lord  was 
curing  my  pride  by  such  a threatening  and  abasing 


92 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


providence,  that  he  was  weaning  my  heart  from  sen- 
sual delights  by  such  a sharp  and  painful  wound;  but 
now  I behold  things  in  another  light  and  give  thanks 
and  praises  to  my  divine  physician. 

We  shall  look  back  upon  the  hours  of  our  impa- 
tience and  be  ashamed;  we  shall  chide  the  flesh  for 
its  old  repinings,  when  we  shall  stand  upon  the 
eternal  hills  of  paradise  and  cast  our  eyes  backward 
upon  yonder  transactions  of  time,  those  past  ages 
of  complaint  and  infirmity.  We  shall  then  with 
pleasure  and  thankfulness  confess  that  the  Captain 
of  our  salvation  was  much  in  the  right  to  lead  us 
through  so  many  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  we 
were  much  in  the  wrong  to  complain  of  his  conduct. 

Bear  up  your  spirits  then,  ye  poor  afflicted  dis- 
tressed souls,  who  are  wrestling  through  difficult, 
providences  all  in  the  dark;  bear  up  but  a little  longer: 
he  that  shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry:  he 
will  set  all  his  conduct  in  a fair  light,  and  you 
shall  say,  “ Blessed  be  the  Lord  and  all  his  govern- 
ment.” 

Sixthly,  That  heaven  should  be  so  well  filled  out 
of  such  a hell  of  sin  and  misery  as  this  world  is, 
shall  be  another  delightful  reflection  full  of  wonder 
and  glory.  Take  a short  survey  of  mankind,  how 
“all  flesh  has  corrupted  its  ways  before  God,  and 
every  imagination  of  the  thought  of  man’s  heart  is 
only  evil,  and  that  continually;  there  is  none  righ- 
teous; no,  not  one.”  Look  round  about  you  and  see 
how  iniquity  abounds,  violence,  oppression,  pride, 
lust,  sensualities  of  all  kinds,  how  they  reign  among 
the  children  of  men : religion  is  lost  and  God  for- 
gotten in  the  world;  and  yet  out  of  this  wretched 
world  Christ  has  provided  inhabitants  for  heaven, 
where  nothing  can  enter  that  defileth.  Look  into 
your  own  hearts,  ye  sinners;  see  what  hell  lies  there, 
and  ye  converts  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  look  into 
your  hearts,  too,  and  see  how  many  of  the  seeds  of 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  93 

wickedness  still  lie  hid  there;  how  much  corruption 
and  how  little  holiness;  look  inward,  and  wonder 
that  Christ  should  ever  fit  you  for  heaven  by  his  con- 
verting and  sanctifying  grace. 

Look  round  the  world  again  and  survey  the  mi- 
series of  this  earth  ; as  many  calamities  as  there  are 
creatures,  and  perhaps  ten  times  more : who  is  there 
on  earth  without  his  sorrows?  and  sometimes  a mul- 
titude of  them  meet  in  one  single  sufferer:  see  how 
toil,  and  weariness,  and  disappointment,  poverty, 
and  sickness,  pain,  and  anguish,  and  vexation,  are 
distributed  through  this  world,  that  lies  on  the  bor- 
ders of  hell : see  all  this,  and  wonder  at  the  grace  of 
Christ  that  has  taken  a colony  out  of  this  miserable 
world  and  made  a heaven  of  it. 

We  shall  many  of  us  be  a wmnder  to  each  other  as 
well  as  to  ourselves,  and  we  shall  all  review  and  ad- 
mire the  grace  of  Christ  in  and  towards  us  all. 
Among  the  rest  there  are  two  sort  of  Christians 
whose  salvation  shall  be  a special  matter  of  wonder, 
and  these  are  the  melancholy  and  uncharitable.  The 
melancholy  Christian  shall  wonder  that  ever  such  a 
sinner  as  himself  was  brought  to  heaven ; and  the 
uncharitable  shall  wonder  how  such  a sinner  as  his 
neighbour  came  there.  The  poor  doubting  melan- 
choly soul,  who  was  full  of  fears  lest  he  should  be 
condemned,  shall  then  have  full  assurance  that  he  is 
elected  and  redeemed,  pardoned  and  saved,  when  he 
sees,  hears,  and  feels  the  salvation  and  the  glory  upon 
him,  within  him,  and  all  around  him,  and  he  shall 
admire  and  adore  the  grace  of  God  his  Saviour.  The 
narrow-souled  Christian  who  said  his  neighbour 
would  be  damned  for  want  of  some  party-notions,  or 
for  some  lesser  failings,  shall  confess  his  uncharitable 
mistake,  and  shall  wonder  at  the  abounding  mercy  of 
Christ,  which  has  pardoned  those  errors  in  his  neigh- 
bour for  which  he  had  excommunicated  and  con- 
demned him.  Both  these  Christians  in  that  day,  I 
mean,  the  timorous  and  the  censorious,  shall  stand  at 


94 


C.HRTST  ADMIRED  AND 


his  right  hand  as  monuments  of  his  surprising  grace 
who  forgave  one  the  defects  of  his  faith  and  the 
other  his  want  of  love;  and  their  souls  and  their 
tongues  shall  join  together  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord, 
and  their  spirits  shall  magnify  their  God  and  Re- 
deemer : Christ  shall  have  his  due  revenue  of  glory 
from  both  in  the  hour  of  their  public  salvation. 

O what  honour  shall  it  add  tQ  the  everflowing 
mercy  of  Christ,  what  joy  and  wonder  to  all  the  saints 
to  see  Paul  the  persecutor  and  blasphemer  there,  and 
Peter  who  denied  the  Lord  that  bought  him,  and 
Mary  Magdalene,  that  impure  sinner!  See  what  a 
foul  and  shameful  catalogue,  what  children  of  ini- 
quity, are  at  last  made  heirs  and  possessors  of  heaven. 
1 Cor.  vi.  9,  10,  11.  The  fornicators  and  idolaters, 
the  thieves  and  the  covetous,  the  drunkards,  the  re- 
vilers  and  the  extortioners.  Such  they  were  in  the 
days  of  ignorance  and  heathenism,  fit  fuel  for  the 
fire  of  hell;  and  in  those  circumstances  they  are  ut- 
terly excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  now 
they  find  a place  in  that  blessed  assembly;  and  the 
converting  grace  of  Christ  is  admired  and  glorified. 

Is  the  blessed  Jesus  a great  Prophet  and  the 
Teacher  of  his  church?  These  are  the  persons 
that  could  turn  such  sinners  into  saints.  O surprising 
scene  of  rich  salvation,  when  these  Corinthian  con- 
verts, washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ  and  renewed 
by  his  Spirit,  shall  appear  in  their  white  garments  of 
holiness  and  glory ! There  is  not  one  sinful  creature 
to  be  found  in  all  the  vast  retinue  of  the  holy  Jesus. 
But  there  are  thousands  who  have  been  once  great 
criminals,  notorious  sinners,  and  have  been  snatched 
by  the  arm  of  divine  love  as  brands  out  of  the  burn- 
ing. What  an  affecting  sight  will  it  be  when  we 
shall  behold  all  the  members  of  Christ  united  to  their 
Head,  and  complete  in  glory,  and  see  at  the  same 
time  a world  of  vile  sinners  doomed  to  destruction! 
With  what  adoration  and  wonder  shall  we  cry  out, 
“And  such  were  some  of  these  happy  ones,  but  they 


95 


GLQRIFIED  IN  HIStSAINTS. 

are  sanctified,  but  they  are  justified  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God,”  Psa. 
cxv.  1:  “Not  unto  us,  O Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  to” 
God  our  Saviour  be  eternal  honour. 

In  the  seventh  place,  There  is  another  glory  and 
wonder  added  to  this  illustrious  scene,  and  gives 
honour  to  our  blessed  Saviour;  and  that  is,  that  so 
many  vigorous,  beautiful,  and  immortal  bodies  should 
be  raised  at  once  out  of  the  dust,  with  all  their  old 
infirmities  left  behind  them:  not  one  ache  or  pain, 
not  one  weakness  or  disease  among  all  the  glorified 
millions:  as  the  Israelites  came  out  of  their  bondage 
in  Egypt,  so  shall  the  army  of  saints  from  the  prison 
of  the  grave,  “and  not  one  feeble  among  them.” 
Psal.  cv.  37.  This  is  the  work  of  Christ  the  Creator 
and  the  healer. 

Here&I  might  ,run  many  sorrowful  divisions,  and 
travel  over  the  large  and  thorny  field  of  sickness 
and  pains  that  attend  human  nature,  those  unborn 
mischiefs  that  vex  poor  Christians  in  this  state  of 
trial  and  suffering.  But  these  were  all  buried  when 
the  body  went  to  the  grave,  and  they  are  buried 
for  ever;  he  that  hath  the  keys  of  death  shall  let  the 
bodies  of  his  saints  out  of  prison;  but  no  gout  nor 
stone,  no  infirmity  nor  distemper,  no  head-ach  nor 
heart-ache  shall  ever  attend  them.  The  body  was 
“sown  in  weakness,  but  it  is  raised  in  power;  it  was 
sown  in  dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory,”  through 
the  power  of  the  second  Adam  and  his  quickening 
Spirit.  1 Cor.  xv.  43,  45.  Rom.  viii.  11. 

Then  shall  Christ  appear  to  be  Sovereign  and 
Lord  of  death,  when  such  an  endless  multitude  of 
old  and  newT  captives  are  released  at  his  word,  and 
the  grave  has  restored  its  prey;  when  those  bodies 
which  have  been  turned  into  dust  some  thousands 
of  years,  and  their  atoms  scattered  abroad  by  the 
winds  of  heaven  shall  be  raised  again  in  glory  and 
dignity  to  meet  their  descending  Lord  in  the  air. 


96 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


Surely  Jesus  in  that  day  shall  be  acknowledged  as 
a Sovereign  of  nature,  when  at  the  word  of  his  com- 
mand a new  creation  shall  arise  all  perfect  and  im- 
mortal. 

It  will  add  yet  further  glory  to  Christ  when  we 
remember  what  fruitful  seeds  of  iniquity  were  lodged 
in  that  flesh  and  blood  which  we  wore  on  earth,  and 
which  we  laid  down  in  the  tomb,  and  when  at  the 
same  time  we  survey  our  glorified  bodies,  how 
spiritual,  how  holy,  how  happily  fitted  for  the  service 
of  glorified  souls  made  perfect  in  holiness.  How 
did  all  the  saints  once  complain  of  a law  in  their 
members  that  warred  against  the  law  of  their  minds, 
and  brought  them  into  bondage  to  the  law  of  sin? 
But  this  law  of  sin  is  now  for  ever  abolished,  this 
bondage  dissolved  and  broken,  and  these  members 
are  all  new-created  for  instruments  of  righteousness 
to  serve  God  in  his  temple  for  ever  and  ever.  Holy 
Paul  shall  no  more  groan  in  a sinful  tabernacle, 
he  shall  no  more  complain  of  that  flesh  wherein  no 
good  thing  dwelt,  he  shall  cry  out  no  more,  “O 
wretched  man  that  I am,  who  shall  deliver  me?” 

Many  and  bitter  have  been  the  sorrows  of  a holy 
soul  in  this  world,  because  of  the  perverse  dispo- 
sitions of  animal  nature  and  the  flesh : but  none 
of  the  saints  in  that  assembly  shall  ever  feel  again  the 
stings  of  inward  envy,  the  pricking  thorns  of  peevish- 
ness, or  the  wild  ferments  of  wrath  and  passion: 
none  of  them  shall  ever  find  those  unruly  appetites 
which  wrought  so  strongly  in  their  old  flesh  and 
blood,  and  too  often  overpowered  their  unwdlling 
souls;  those  appetites  which  brought  their  consciences 
sometimes  under  fresh  guilt,  and  filled  them  with 
inward  reproaches,  and  agonies  of  spirit.  These 
evil  principles  are  all  destroyed  by  death,  they  are 
lost  in  the  grave,  and  shall  have  no  resurrection. 
The  new-raised  bodies  of  the  righteous  in  that  day 
shall  be  completely  obedient  to  the  dictates  of  their 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


97 


spirits  without  any  vicious  juices  to  make  reluctance, 
or  perverse  humours  to  raise  an  inward  rebellion: 
and  not  only  so,  but  perhaps  even  our  bodies  shall  have 
some  active  holy  tendencies  wrought  in  them  so 
far  as  corporeal  nature  can  administer  towards  the 
sacred  exercises  of  a glorified  saint.  A sweet  and 
blessed  change  indeed!  And  Jesus,  who  raised 
these  bodies  in  this  beauty  of  holiness,  shall  receive 
the  glory  of  this  divine  work. 

The  last  instance  I shall  mention  wherein  Christ 
shall  be  admired  in  his  saints,  is  this:  They  shall 
appear  in  that  day  as  so  many  images  of  his  per- 
son and  as  so  many  monuments  of  the  success  of  his 
office. 

Is  the  blessed  Jesus  a great  Prophet  and  the 
Teacher  of  his  church?  These  are  the  persons 
that  have  learnt  his  divine  doctrine,  they  have  heard 
the  joyful  sound  of  his  gospel,  and  the  holy  truths 
of  it  are  copied  out  in  their  hearts.  These  are  the 
disciples  of  his  school;  and  by  his  word  and  by 
his  Spirit  they  have  been  taught  to  know  God  and 
their  Saviour,  and  they  have  been  trained  up  in  the 
way  to  eternal  life. 

Is  Jesus  a great  high  priest  both  of  sacrifice 
and  intercession?  Behold  all  these  souls,  an  endless 
number,  purified  from  their  defilements  by  the 
blood  of  his  cross,  washed  and  made  white  in  that 
blessed  laver,  and  reconciled  to  God  by  his  atoning 
sacrifice;  behold  the  power  of  his  intercession  in 
securing  millions  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and  in  pro- 
curing for  them  every  divine  blessing.  He  has  ob- 
tained for  each  of  them  grace  and  glory. 

Is  Jesus  the  Lord  of  all  things  and  the  King  of 
his  church?  Behold  his  subjects  waiting  on  him, 
a numerous  and  a loyal  multitude,  who  have  the 
laws  of  their  King  engraven  on  their  souls.  These 
are  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam  whom  he  has 
rescued  by  his  power  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness 
10 


98 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


and  the  hands  of  the  devil : he  has  guarded  them 
from  the  rage  of  their  malicious  adversaries  in  earth 
and  hell,  and  brought  them  safe  through  all  diffi- 
culties to  behbld  the  glories  of  this  day,  and  to 
celebrate  the  honours  of  their  King. 

Is  he  the  Captain  of  salvation?  See  what  a 
blessed  army  he  has  listed  under  his  banner  of  love; 
and  they  have  followed  him  through  all  the  dangers 
of  life  and  time  under  his  conduct.  These  are  the 
chosen,  the  called,  the  faithful.  They  have  sus- 
tained many  a sharp  conflict,  many  a dreadful  bat- 
tle, and  they  are  at  last  “made  more  than  con- 
querors through  him  that  has  loved  them.”  They 
attribute  all  their  victories  to  the  wisdom,  the  good- 
ness and  the  power  of  their  divine  Leader,  and  even 
stand  amazed  at  their  own  success  against  such 
mighty  adversaries:  but  they  fought  under  the 
banner,  conduct,  and  influence,  of  the  Prince  of 
Life,  the  King  of  righteousness,  who  is  always  vic- 
torious, and  has  a crown  in  his  hand  for  every  con- 
queror. 

Is  Jesus  the  great  example  of  his  saints?  Behold 
the  virtues  and  graces  of  the  Son  of  God  copied  out 
in  all  his  followers.  As  he  was,  so  were  they  in 
this  world,  holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled,  and  sepa- 
rate from  sinners:  as  he  now  is,  so  are  they,  glo- 
rious in  holiness  and  divinely  beautiful,  while  each 
of  them  reflects  the  image  of  their  blessed  Lord,  and 
they  appear  as  wonders  to  all  the  beholding  world. 
They  were  unknown  here  on  earth  even  as  Christ 
himself  was  unknown:  this  is  the  day  appointed  to 
reveal  their  works  and  their  graces.  Jesus  is* the 
brightness  of  his  Father’s  glory  and  the  express  image 
of  his  person;  and  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  God 
shall  then  appear  as  so  many  pictures  of  the  blessed 
Jesus  drawn  by  the  finger  of  the  eternal  Spirit. 

And  not  their  souls  only,  but  their  glorified  bodies 
also  are  framed  in  his  likeness.  What  grace  and 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


99 


grandeur  dwell  in  each  countenance  ! As  thou  art, 
O blessed  Jesus,  so  shall  they  be  in  that  day,  all  of 
them  resembling  the  children  of  a king!  Vigour 
and  health,  beauty  and  immortality  shine  and  reign 
throughout  all  that  blessed  assembly.  The  adopted 
sons  and  daughters  of  God  resemble  the  original  and 
only-begotten  Son;  Christ  will  have  all  his  brethren 
and  sisters  conformed  unto  his  glories,  that  they  may 
be  known  to  be  his  kindred,  the  children  of  his 
Father,  and  that  he  may  appear  the  first-born  among 
many  brethren.  When  the  Son  of  God  breaks  open 
the  graves,  he  forms  the  dust  of  his  saints  by  the 
model  of  his  own  glorious  aspect  and  figure,  “and 
changes  their  vile  bodies  into  the  likeness  of  his  own 
glorious  body  by  that  power  whereby  he  is  able  to 
subdue  all  things  to  himself.’5  Phil.  iii.  ult.  He 
shall  be  admired  as  the  bright  original,  and  each  of 
the  saints  as  a fair  and  glorious  copy:  the  various 
beauties  that  are  dispersed  among  all  that  assembly 
are  summed  up  and  united  in  himself:  he  is  the 
chiefest  among  ten  thousands  and  altogether  lovely. 
One  sun  in  the  firmament  can  point  his  own  bright 
image  at  once  upon  a thousand  reflecting  glasses,  or 
mirrors  of  gold:  what  a dazzling  lustre  would  arise 
from  such  a scene  of  reflections!  But  what  superior 
and  inexpressible  glory,  above  all  the  power  of  simi- 
litude and  beyond  the  reach  of  comparison,  shall 
irradiate  the  world  on  that  day,  when  Jesus,  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  shall  shine  upon  all  his  saints,  and 
find  each  of  them  well  prepared  to  receive  his  lustre, 
and  to  reflect  it  round  the  creation ; each  of  them 
displaying  the  image  of  the  original  Son  of  God, 
and  confessing  all  their  virtues  and  their  graces,  all 
their  beauties  and  glories  both  of  soul  and  body  to 
be  nothing  else  but  mere  copies  and  derivations  from 
Jesus,  the  first  and  fairest  image  of  the  Father! 


100 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


USE. 

The  doctrines  and  works  of  divine  grace  are 
full  of  wonder  and  glory;  such  is  the  person  and 
offices  of  Christ,  such  are  his  holy  and  faithful  fol- 
lowers, and  such  eminently  will  be  the  blessed  scene 
at  his  appearance.  In  the  foregoing  part  of  the 
discourse  we  have  briefly  surveyed  some  of  those 
glorious  wonders.  We  now  come  to  consider  what 
use  may  be  made  of  such  a theme. 

Use  1.  It  gives  us  eminently  these  two  lessons 
of  instruction: 

Lesson  1.  How  mistaken  is  the  judgment  of  flesh 
and  sense  in  the  things  that  relate  to  Christ  and  his 
saints.  The  Son  of  God  himself  was  abused  and 
scorned  by  the  blind  world;  they  esteemed  him  as  one 
smitten  of  God  and  unbeloved,  and  they  saw  no 
beauty  or  comeliness  in  him.  Isa.  iii.  23.  He  was 
poor  and  despised  all  his  life,  and  he  was  doomed  to 
the  death  of  a criminal  and  a slave.  As  for  the 
saints,  they  find  no  more  honour  or  esteem  among 
men  than  their  Lord ; they  are  many  times  called 
and  counted  “the  filth  of  the  world,  and  the  off-scour- 
ing of  all  things/’  1 Cor.  iv.  14.  This  is  the  judg- 
ment of  flesh  and  sense. 

But  when  the  great  appointed  hour  is  come,  and 
Jesus  shall  return  from  heaven  “with  a shout  of  the 
archangel  and  the  trump  of  God,”  wffien  he  shall 
call  up  his  saints  from  their  beds  of  dust  and  dark- 
ness, and  make  the  graves  resign  those  prisoners  of 
hope,  when  they  shall  all  gather  together  around 
their  Lord,  a bright  and  numerous  army,  shining, 
and  reflecting  the  splendours  of  his  presence,  how 
will  the  judgment  of  flesh  and  sense  be  confounded 
at  once,  and  reversed  writh  shame!  “Is  this  the 
man  that  was  loaded  wTith  scandal,  that  was  buffeted 
with  scorn,  and  scourged  and  crucified  in  ihe  land 


GLORIFfEI)  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


101 


of  Judea ! Is  this  the  person  that  hung  on  the  cursed 
tree,  and  expired  under  agonies  of  pain  and  sorrow? 
Amazing  sight!  How  majestic,  how  divine  his  ap- 
pearance! The  Son  of  God  and  the  King  of 
glory!  And  are  these  the  men  that  were  made  the 
mockery  of  the  world?  That  wandered  about  in 
sheep-skins  and  goat-skins  in  dens  and  caves  of  the 
earth?  Surprising  appearance!  How  illustrious! 
How  full  of  glory!  O that  such  a meditation  might 
awaken  us  to  judge  more  by  faith.’7  H 

Lesson  2.  The  next  lesson  that  we  may  derive 
from  the  text  is  this,  (viz.)  “One  great  design  of 
the  day  of  judgment  is  to  advance  and  publish  the 
glory  of  Christ.”  He  shall  come  on  purpose  to  be 
glorified  in  his  saints;  the  whole  creation  was  made 
by  him  and  for  him;  the  transactions  of  providence, 
grace,  and  justice,  are  managed  for  his  honour;  and 
the  joyful  and  terrible  affairs  of  the  day  of  judgment 
are  designed  to  display  the  majesty  and  the  power 
of  Jesus  the  King,  the  wisdom  and  equity  of  Jesus 
the  Judge,  and  the  grace  and  truth  of  Jesus  the 
Saviour.  I will  grant  indeed  that  the  appointment 
of  this  day  is  partly  intended  for  the  glory  of  Christ 
in  the  just  destruction  of  the  impenitent,  for  he  will 
be  glorified  in  pouring  out  the  vengeance  of  his 
Father  upon  rebellions  sinners:  “The  Lord  Jesus 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels 
in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting 
destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  power,”  ver.  7,  8,  9,  before  my  text. 
But  his  sweetest  and  most  valuable  revenue  of  glory 
arises  from  among  his  saints. 

If  the  messengers  of  the  churches  are  called  the 
glory  of  Christ,  with  all  the  weaknesses  and  sins  and 
follies  that  attend  the  best  of  them  here,  as  in  2 Cor. 
viii.  23,  much  more  shall  they  be  his  glory  hereafter 

10* 


102 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


when  they  shall  have  no  spot  nor  blemish  found 
upon  them,  and  the  work  of  Christ  upon  their  souls 
has  formed  and  finished  them  in  the  perfect  beauty 
of  holiness.  The  saints  shall  reflect  glory  on  each 
other,  and  all  of  them  reflect  supreme  lustre  on  Christ 
their  head:  the  people  shall  be  the  crown  and  glory 
of  the  minister  in  that  day,  and  the  minister  shall 
be  the  joy  and  glory  of  the  people,  and  both  shall 
be  the  crown,  joy,  and  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
1 Thess.  ii.  19,  20.  2 Cor.  i.  14.  2 Thess.  i.  12. 

He  shall  appear  high  on  a throne  in  the  midst  of  that 
bright  assembly  and  say,  “ Father,  these  are  thy  sheep 
that  thou  hast  given  me  in  the  counsels  of  thine  eter- 
nal love;  all  these  I have  ransomed  from  hell  at  the 
price  of  my  own  blood,  these  have  I rescued  by  my 
grace  from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  the  devil,  I have 
formed  them  unto  holiness  and  fitted  them  for  heaven, 
I have  kept  them  by  my  power  through  all  the  dangers 
of  their  mortal  state,  and  have  brought  them  safe  to 
thy  celestial  kingdom:  “All  thine  are  mine,  and  all 
mine  are  thine:  I was  glorified  in  them  on  earth,’7 
John  xviii.  10,  and  they  are  now  my  everlasting  crown 
and  glory. 

Then  shall  the  unknown  worlds  that  never  fell, 
worlds  of  ajigels  and  innocent  creatures,  and  the 
world  of  guilty  devils  and  condemned  rebels  stand 
and  wonder  together  at  the  recovery  and  salvation 
Christ  has  provided  for  the  fallen  sons  of  Adam. 
They  shall  stand  amazed  to  see  the  millions  of  apos- 
tate creatures,  the  inhabitants  of  this  earthly  globe 
recovered  to  their  duty  and  allegiance  by  the  Son  of 
God  going  down  to  dwell  amongst  them;  millions 
of  impure  and  deformed  souls  restored  to  the  divine 
image  and  made  beautiful  as  angels  by  the  grace  and 
Spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus.  Those  spectators  shall  be 
filled  with  admiration  and  transport  to  see  such  a 
multitude  of  criminals  pardoned  and  justified  for 
the  sake  of  a righteousness  which  they  themselves 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


103 


never  wrought,  and  accepted  as  righteous  in  the 
sight  of  God  by  a covenant  of  grace  unknown  to  other 
worlds,  and  by  faith  in  the  great  Mediator.  They 
shall  wonder  to  see  such  an  innumerable  company 
of  polluted  wretches  washed  from  their  sins  in  so  pre- 
cious a laver  as  the  blood  of  God’s  own  Son  : and 
he  that  hung  upon  the  cross  as  a spectacle  of  wretch- 
edness at  Jerusalem,  shall  entertain  the  superior  and 
inferior  worlds  with  the  sight  of  his  adorable  and  di- 
vine glories,  and  the  spoils  he  has  brought  from  the 
regions  of  death  and  hell.  Thus  to  the  principalities 
and  powers  in  heavenly  places  shall  be  made  known 
by  the  church  triumphant  the  manifold  wdsdom  and 
the  manifold  grace  of  God  the  Father,  and  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  Eph.  iii.  10. 

But  tremble,  oh  ye  obstinate  and  impenitent 
wretches!  ye  sensual  sinners,  ye  infidels  of  a Christian 
name  and  nation,  Christ  will  be  glorified  in  you  one 
way  or  another;  if  your  hearts  are  not  bowed  and 
melted  to  receive  his  gospel,  you  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  among  those  that  know 
not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  his  Son. 

Tremble,  ye  sensual  and  ye  profane  sons  of 
iniquity,  when  ye  remember  this  day,  when  ye 
shall  see  the  holy  souls  that  ye  scorned,  with  crowms 
on  their  heads  and  palms  in  their  hands,  with  the 
shout  of  victory  and  joy  on  their  tongues,  and  the 
God-man  whom  ye  despised  and  whose  grace  ye 
neglected,  shining  at  the  head  of  that  bright  as- 
sembly. 

Tremble,  ye  infidels,  ye  despisers  of  the  name 
of  a crucified  Christ;  behold  his  cross  has  become  a 
throne,  and  his  crown  of  thorns  a crown  of  glory: 
see  the  man  whom  ye  have  scorned  and  reproached 
at  the  head  of  millions  of  angels,  and  adored  by 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  saints,  while  wicked 
princes  and  captains,  armies  and  nations  of  sinners 
wait  their  doom  from  his  mouth,  nor  dare  hope  for 


104 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


a word  of  his  mercy.  O make  haste,  and  come  and 
be  reconciled  to  him,  and  to  God  by  him,  that  ye 
may  belong  to  that  blessed  assembly,  that  ye  may  bear 
a part  in  the  triumphs  of  that  day,  and  that  Christ 
may  be  glorified  in  your  recovery  from  the  very 
borders  of  damnation, 
i,  This  thought  leads  me  to  the  next  use. 

II.  This  discourse  gives  rich  encouragement  to 
the  greatest  sinners  to  hope  for  mercy,  and  to  the 
weakest  saints  to  hope  for  victory  and  salvation. 
Such  sort  of  subjects  of  the  grace  of  Christ  shall 
yield  him  some  of  the  brightest  rays  of  glory  at 
the  last  day.  Yet,  sinners,  let  me  charge  you  here 
never  to  hope  for  this  happiness  without  solemn 
repentance  and  an  entire  change  of  heart  unto  ho- 
liness, for  an  unholy  soul  would  be  a fearful  blemish 
in  that  assembly  and  a disgrace  to  our  Lord  Jesus. 
Christians,  I would  charge  you  also  never  to  hope 
for  the  happiness  of  this  day  without  battle  and 
conquest,  for  all  the  members  of  that  assembly  must 
be  overcomers;  but  where  there  is  a hearty  desire 
and  longing  after  grace  and  salvation,  let  not  the 
worst  of  sinners  despair,  nor  the  weakest  believer 
let  go  his  hope;  for  it  is  such  as  you  and  I are  in 
whom  Christ  will  be  magnified  in  that  day. 

Believe  this,  oh  thou  humbled  and  convincced 
sinner,  who  complainest  thy  heart  is  hard,  though 
thou  wouldest  fain  repent  and  mourn;  who  fearest 
the  bonds  of  thy  corruptions  are  so  strong  that  they 
shall  never  be  broken,  believe  that  the  sovereign 
grace  of  Christ  has  designed  to  exalt  itself  in  the 
sanctification  of  such  unholy  souls  as  thou  art,  and 
in  melting  such  hard  hearts  as  thine.  And  thou, 
poor  trembling  soul,  that  wouldst  fain  trust  in  a 
Saviour,  but  art  afraid,  because  of  the  greatness  of 
thy  guilt  and  thine  abounding  iniquities,  believe 
this,  that  where  sin  has  abounded,  grace  has  much 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  *^105 

more  abounded : it  is  from  the  bringing  such  sinners 
as  thou  art  to  heaven,  that  the  choicest  revenues  of 
glory  shall  arise  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thy 
acclamations  of  joy  and  honour  to  the  Saviour  shall 
perhaps  be  loudest  in  that  day,  when  he  shall  come 
to  be  glorified  in  his  saints  and  admired  in  all  them 
that  believe. 

Read  1 Timothy  i.  13,  14,  15,  and  16,  and  see 
there  what  an  account  the  great  apostle  gives  of  his 
own  conversion:  “I  was  a blasphemer  and  a per- 
secutor and  injurious,  yet  I obtained  mercy;  and  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  was  exceeding  abundant,  with 
faith,  and  love  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ.”  Now  I 
am  sent  to  publish  and  preach  to  blasphemers  and 
persecutors,  that  “this  is  a faithful  saying  and  wor- 
thy of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners;  of  whom  I am  chief.  How- 
beit,  for  this  cause  I obtained  mercy,  that  in  me 
first  Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth  all  long-suffer- 
ing, for  a pattern  to  them  which  should  hereafter 
believe  on  him  to  life  everlasting.” 

Turn  to  another  text,  ye  feeble  believers,  2 Cor.  xii. 
9,  10;  there  you  shall  find  the  same  apostle  a con- 
vert and  a Christian,  but  too  wreak  to  conflict  with  the 
messenger  of  Satan  that  buffeted  him,  nor  able  to  re- 
lease himself  from  that  sore  temptation  that  lay  heavy 
upon  him;  but  having  received  a word  from  Christ 
that  his  grace  was  sufficient,  and  that  his  strength  was 
to  shine  perfect  in  glory  in  the  midst  of  our  weakness, 
the  apostle  encourages  himself  to  a joyful  hope. 
Now,  says  he,  I can  even  glory  in  my  infirmities  (so 
far  as  they  are  without  sin)  that  the  power  of  Christ 
may  rest  upon  me;  when  I am  weak  in  myself,  I am 
strong  in  the  Lord. 

Are  not  the  most  diseased  patients  the  chief  ho- 
nours of  the  physician  who  healed  them?  And  must 
not  these  appear  eminently  in  that  day  when  he  dis- 
plays to  the  sight  of  the  world  the  noblest  monuments 


106 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


of  his  healing  power!  When  cripples  and  invalids 
gain  over  mighty  enemies,  is  not  the  skill  and  con- 
duct of  their  leader  most  admired?  You  are  the  per- 
sons then  in  whom  Christ  will  be  glorified,  be  of  good 
cheer,  receive  his  offered  grace,  and  wait  for  his  sal- 
vation. 

III.  The  next  use  I shall  make  of  this  discourse 
is  to  draw  a word  of  advice  from  it.  Learn  to  de- 
spise those  honours  and  ornaments  in  this  world  in 
which  Christ  shall  have  no  share  in  the  world  to 
come.  I do  not  say,  cast  them  all  away,  for  many 
things  are  needful  in  this  life  that  can  have  no  im- 
mediate regard  to  the  other;  but  learn  to  despise 
them  and  set  light  by  them,  because  they  reach  no 
farther  than  time,  and  shall  be  forgotten  in  eternity. 
Never  put  the  higher  esteem  on  yourselves  or  your 
neighbours  because  of  the  gay  glitterings  of  silk  or 
silver;  nor  let  these  employ  your  eyes  and  your 
thoughts  in  the  time  of  worship  when  the  things  of 
the  future  world  should  fill  up  your  attention;  nor 
let  them  entertain  your  tongues  in  your  friendly 
visits,  so  as  to  exclude  the  discourse  of  divine  orna- 
ments and  the  glorious  appearance  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

When  I am  to  put  on  my  best  attire,  let  me  con- 
sider, if  I am  hung  round  with  jewels  and  gold,  these 
must  perish  before  that  solemn  day,  or  melt  in  the 
last  great  burning ; they  can  add  no  beauty  to  me 
in  that  assembly.  If  I put  on  love,  and  faith,  and 
humility,  I shall  shine  in  these  hereafter,  and  Christ 
shall  have  some  rays  of  glory  from  them.  O may  your 
souls  and  mine  be  dressed  in  those  graces  which  are 
“ornaments  of  great  price  in  the  sight  of  God!”  1 
Peter,  iii.  3,  4.  Such  as  may  command  the  respect 
of  angels,  and  reflect  honour  upon  Christ  in  that  so- 
lemnity. 

I confess  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  human 
nature  in  the  best  of  us  is  too  much  impressed  by 
things  sensible:  when  we  see  a train  of  human  pomp 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


107 


and  grandeur,  and  long  ranks  of  shining  garments  and 
equipage,  it  is  ready  to  dazzle  our  eyes  and  attract 
our  hearts : vain  pomp  and  poor  equipage  all  this, 
when  compared  with  the  triumph  of  our  blessed 
Lord  at  his  appearance  with  an  endless  army  of  his 
holy  ones;  where  every  saint  shall  be  vested  (not 
in  silks  and  gold)  but  in  robes  of  refined  light  out- 
shining the  sun,  such  as  Christ  himself  wore  in  the 
mount  of  transfiguration.  Millions  of  suns  in  one 
firmament  of  glory.  Think  on  that  day  and  the 
illustrious  retinue  of  our  Lord  : think  on  that  splen- 
dour that  shall  attragt  the  eyes  of  heaven  and  earth, 
shall  confound  the  proud  sinner,  and  astonish  the 
inhabitants  of  hell : such  a meditation  as  this  will 
cast  a dim  shadow  over  the  brightest  appearance  of 
a court  or  a royal  festival;  it  will  spread  a dead  co- 
louring over  all  the  painted  vanities  of  this  life;  it 
will  damp  every  thought  of  rising  ambition  and 
earthly  pride,  and  we  shall  have  but  little  heart  to 
admire  or  wish  for  any  of  the  vain  shows  of  morta- 
lity. Methinks  every  gaudy  scene  of  the  present 
life,  and  all  the  gilded  honours  and  armies  w’ould 
grow  faint  and  fade  away  and  vanish  at  the  medita- 
tion of  this  illustrious  appearance. 

IV.  This  text  will  give  us  also  two  hints  of 
caution. 

First.  You  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  or  wise, 
or  mighty,  dare  not  ridicule  nor  scoff  at  those  poor 
weak  Christians  in  whom  Christ  shall  be  admired 
and  glorified  in  the  last  day.  You  that  fancy  you 
have  any  advantages  of  birth  or  beauty,  of  mind  or 
body  here  on  earth,  dare  not  make  a jest  of  your 
poor  pious  neighbours  that  want  them,  for  he  is 
one  of  those  persons  whom  Christ  calls  his  glory, 
and  he  himself  has  given  you  warning  lest  you  in- 
cur his  resentment  on  this  account,  Matt,  xviii.  6: 
“Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  those  little  ones  which 


108 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a millstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were 
drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea.”  Perhaps  the 
good  man  has  some  blemish  in  his  outward  form,  or 
it  may  be  his  countenance  is  dejected,  or  his  mien 
and  figure  awkward  and  uncomely ; perhaps  his  gar- 
ments sit  wrong  and  unfashionable  upon  him,  or  it 
may  be  they  hang  in  tatters;  the  motions  of  his  body 
perhaps  are  ungraceful,  his  speech  improper,  and 
his  deportment  is  simple  and  unpolished ; but  he  has 
shining  graces  in  his  soul  in  which  Christ  shall  be 
admired  in  the  last  day,  and  hpw  darest  thou  make 
him  thy  laughing-stock?  Wilt  thou  be  willing  to 
hear  thy  scornful  jest  repeated  again  at  that  day, 
when  the  poor  derided  Christian  has  his  robes  of 
glory  on,  and  the  Judge  of  all  shall  acknowledge 
him  for  one  of  his  favourites? 

The  second  hint  of  caution  is  this:  You  that 
shall  be  the  glory  of  Christ  in  that  day  dare  not  do 
any  thing  that  may  dishonour  him  now.  Walk  an- 
swerably  to  your  character  and  your  hope,  nor  in- 
dulge the  least  sinful  defilement.  Say  within  your- 
selves, “Am  I to  make  one  in  that  splendid  retinue 
of  my  Lord,  where  every  one  must  appear  in  robes 
of  holiness,  and  shall  I spot  my  garments  with  the 
flesh?  When  I am  provoked  to  anger  and  indigna- 
tion, let  me  say,  Doth  wrath  and  bluster  become  a 
follower  and  an  attendant  of  the  meek  and  peaceful 
Jesus?  When  I am  tempted  to  pride  and  vanity  of 
mind,  will  this  be  a beauty  or  a blemish  to  that  as- 
sembly that  shines  in  glorious  humility?  Or  per- 
haps I am  wavering  and  ready  to  yield  and  become 
a captive  to  some  foolish  temptation;  but  how  then 
can  I expect  a place  in  that  holy  triumph  which  is 
appointed  for  none  but  conquerors?  And  how  shall 
I be  able  to  look  my  blessed  General  in  the  face  in 
that  day,  if  I prove  a coward  under  his  banner  and 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 


109 


abandon  my  profession  of  strict  holiness  at  the  de- 
mand of  a sinful  and  threatening  world?” 

Y.  The  last  use  I shall  make  of  the  text  is  matter 
of  consolation  and  joy  to  two  sorts  of  Christians. 

First,  To  the  poor,  mean,  and  despised  followers 
of  Christ,  and  in  whom  Christ  himself  is  despised 
by  the  ungodly  world : read  my  text,  and  believe  that 
in  you  Christ  shall  be  glorified  and  admired,  when 
with  a million  of  angels  he  shall  descend  from  hea- 
ven and  make  his  last  appearance  upon  earth : mean 
as  you  are  in  your  own  esteem  because  of  your  ig- 
norance and  your  weakness  in  this  world,  you  shall 
be  one  of  the  glories  of  Christ  in  the  world  to  come: 
little  and  despicable  as  you  are  in  the  esteem  of  proud 
sinners,  they  shall  behold  your  Lord  exalted  on  his 
throne,  and  you  sitting  among  the  honours  at  his 
right  hand,  while  they  shall  rage  afar  off  and  gnash 
their  teeth  at  your  glory  : when  the  eye  of  faith  is 
open,  it  can  spy  this  bright  hour  at  a distance,  and 
bid  the  mourning  Christian  rejoice  in  hope. 

Secondly,  There  is  comfort  also  in  my  text  to  those 
who  mourn  for  the  dishonour  of  Christ  in  the  world; 
those  lively  members  of  the  mystical  body  who  sym- 
pathize with  the  blessed  Head  under  all  the  reproaches 
that  are  cast  upon  him  and  his  gospel,  who  groan 
under  the  load  of  scandal  that  is  thrown  upon  Christ 
in  an  infidel  age,  as  though  it  were  personally  thrown 
upon  themselves.  It  is  a matter  of  lamentation  in- 
deed that  there  are  but  few  of  this  sort  of  Christians 
in  our  day,  few  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  with  such 
tenderness;  but  if  such  there  be  among  you, 
open  your  eyes  and  look  forward  to  this  glorious 
day.  This  day  to  which  Enoch  the  first  of  all  the 
prophets,  and  John  the  last  of  all  the  apostles  directs 
our  faith.  Read  their  own  words,  Jude  xiv.  15; 
Rev.  i.  7:  “Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thou- 
sand of  his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all, 
and  to  convince  all  that  are  ungodly  among  them  of  all 
11 


110  CHRIST  GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 

their  ungodly  deeds  which  they  have  ungodly  com- 
rnitted,  and  of  all  the  hard  speeches,  which  ungodly 
sinners  have  spoke  against  him. —Behold  he  cometh 
with  clouds  .and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they 
also  which  pierced  him : and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth 
shall  wail  because  of  him.”  Bear  up  your  hearts,  ye 
mourners,  and  support  your  hopes  with  the  promise 
of  our  Lord.  “ Again  a little  while,  and  ye  shall  see 
the  Son  of  man  sitting  on  the  throne  of  his  glory.’’ 
Matt.  xxv.  31.  Then  shall  your  heart  rejoice  in  his 
honours  and  in  your  own,  and  this  “joy  no  man 
taketh  from  yon.”  John  xvi.  19,  22.  And  while  he 
repeats  this  promise  with  his  last  words  in  the  Bi- 
ble, “ Surely  I come  quickly,”  let  every  soul  of  us  echo 
to  the  voice  of  our  Beloved,  “Amen.  Even  so,  come, 
Lord  Jesus.” 


/ 


DISCOURSE  V. 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB, 


Rev.  vi.  15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth , and  the  great  men , and  the  rich 
men , and  the  chief  captains , the  mighty  men , every  bond- 

7nan,  and  every  free-man , /iicZ  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the 
rocks  of  the  mountains : And  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks , 
/a//  o/i  ws,  a/id  /iit/e  us  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne , and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb : For  the  great  day  of 
his  wrath  is  come ; and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand? 


When  some  terrible  judgment  or  execution  of  di- 
vine vengeance  is  denounced  against  an  age  or  a 
nation,  it  is  sometimes  described  in  the  language  of 
prophecy  by  a resemblance  to  the  last  and  great 
judgment-day,  when  all  mankind  shall  have  to  ac- 
count for  their  sins,  and  the  just  and  final  indigna- 
tion of  God  shall  be  executed,  upon  obstinate  and  un- 
repenting criminals.  The  discourse  of  our  Saviour 
in  the  24th  of  Matthew,  is  an  eminent  example  of 
this  kind  where  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  na- 


112 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


tion  is  predicted,  together  with  the  final  judgment 
of  the  world,  in  such  uniform  language  and  similar 
phrases  of  speech,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether 
both  these  scenes  of  vengeance  run  through  the 
whole  discourse,  or  which  part  of  the  discourse  be- 
longs to  the  one,  and  which  to  the  other.  The  same 
manner  of  prophecy  appears  in  this  text. 

Learned  interpreters  suppose  these  words  to  fore- 
tell the  universal  consternation  which  was  found 
amongst  the  heathen  idolaters  and  persecutors  of  the 
church  of  Christ  when  Constantine  the  first  Christian 
emperor  was  raised  to  the  throne  of  Rome  and  be- 
came Governor  of  the  world.  But  whether  they  hit 
upon  the  proper  application  of  this  prophecy  or  not, 
yet  still  it  is  pretty  evident  that  this  scene  of  terror 
is  borrowed  from  the  last  judgment,  which  will  emi- 
nently appear  to  be  the  “day  of  wrath, as  it  is  call- 
ed, Rom.  ii.  5.  It  is  the  great  day  of  divine  indig- 
nation in  so  eminent  a manner,  that  all  the  tremen- 
dous desolations  of  kingdoms  and  people  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  to  the  consummation  of  all  things, 
shall  be  but  as  shadows  of  that  day  of  terror  and  ven- 
geance. 

I shall  therefore  consider  these  words  at  present  as 
they  contain  a solemn  representation  of  that  last 
glorious  and  dreadful  day ; and  here  I shall  inquire 
particularly,  (1.)  Who  are  the  persons  whose  aspect 
and  appearance  shall  then  be  so  dreadful  to  sinners. 
(2.)  How  comes  the  wrath  which  discovers  itself  at 
that  time  to  be  formidable;  and  (3.)  How  vain  will 
the  shifts  and  hopes  of  sinners  be  in  that  dreadful 
day  to  avoid  the  wrath  and  vengeance. 

First,  Who  are  the  persons  that  appear  clothed  in 
so  much  terror? 

Answer.  It  is  he  that  sits  upon  the  throne  and  the 
Lamb : it  is  God  the  Father  of  all,  the  great  and 
Almighty  Creator,  the  supreme  Lord  and  Governor 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


113 


of  the  world,  and  the  Lamb  of  God,  i.  e.  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  dwelling  in  human  nature,  to 
whom  the  judgment  of  the  world  is  committed, 
and  by  whom  the  Father  will  introduce  the  terrible 
and  the  illustrious  scenes  of  that  day,  and  manage 
the  important  and  eternal  affairs  of  it.  It  is  by  these 
names  that  the  apostle  John  in  this  prophetical  book 
describes  God  the  Father,  and  his  Son  Jesus.  Rev. 
iv.  10,  and  v.  6 — 13. 

If  it  be  inquired,  why  God  the  Father  is  described 
as  the  person  sitting  on  the  throne,  this  is  plainly 
agreeable  to  the  other  representations  of  him  through- 
out the  scripture,  where  he  is  described  as  first  and 
supreme  in  autlfority,  as  sitting  on  the  throne  of  ma- 
jesty on  high,  as  denoting  and  commissioning  the 
Lord  Jesus,  his  well-beloved  Son,  to  act  for  him,  and 
as  placing  him  on  his  throne  to  execute  his  works 
of  mercy  or  vengeance.  Rev.  iii.  21:  “He  that 
overcometh  shall  sit  down  with  me  on  my  throne,  saith 
our  Saviour,  even  as  I have  overcome  and  am  set 
down  with  the  Father  on  his  throne.”  John  v.  22 — 
27:  “The  Father  has  committed  all  judgment  into 
the  hands  of  the  Son.”  It  is  true,  the  Godhead  or 
divine  essence  is  but  one,  and  it  is  the  same  Godhead 
which  belongs  to  the  Father  that  dwells  in  the  Son, 
and  in  this  respect  “ Christ  and  the  Father  are  one; 
he  is  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  him,”  John  x. 
33,  38:  yet  the  Father  is  constantly  exhibited  in 
scripture  with  peculiar  characters  of  prime  authority, 
and  the  Son  is  represented  as  receiving  all  from  the 
Father.  John  v.  19,  20,  22,  26,  27. 

If  it  be  farther  inquired,  why  Christ  is  called  the 
Lamb  of  God,  I shall  not  pursue  those  many  fine 
metaphors  and  similes  in  which  the  wit  and  fancy 
of  men  have  run  a long  course  on  this  subject,  but 
shall  only  mention  these  two  things: 

1.  He  is  called  the  Lamb,  from  the  innocence  of 
his  behaviour,  the  quietness  and  meekness  of  his 


114 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


disposition  and  conduct  in  the  world.  The  charac- 
ter of  Jesus  among  men  was  peaceful  and  harmless, 
and  patient  in  injuries;  “When  he  was  reviled,  he 
reviled  not  again,  but  was  led  as  a lamb  to  the 
slaughter”  with  submission  and  without  revenge: 
this  resemblance  appears  and  is  set  forth  to  view  in 
several  scriptures,  wherein  he  is  compared  to  this 
gentle  creature,  Acts  viii.  32;  1 Peter  ii.  23. 

2.  He  is  called  the  Lamb,  because  he  was  ap- 
pointed a sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men,  John  i.  29: 
“Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world.**  1 Pet.  i.  18,  19:  “You  were  re- 
deemed with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a 
Lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot/’  It  was 
a lamb  that  was  ordained  for  the  constant  daily 
sacrifice  amongst  the  Jews,  morning  and  evening, 
to  typify  the  constant  and  everlasting  influence  of 
the  atonement  made  by  the  death  of  Christ.  Heb. 
x.  11,  12.  It  was  a lamb  which  was  sacrificed  at 
the  passover,  and  on  which  the  families  of  Israel 
feasted  to  commemorate  their  redemption  from  the 
slavery  of  Egypt,  and  to  typify  Christ  who  “is  our 
passover  who  was  sacrificed  for  us,’*  and  for  whose 
sake  the  destroying  angel  spares  all  who  trust  in  him. 
1 Cor.  v.  7. 

But  will  a Lamb  discover  such  dreadful  wrath? 
Has  the  Lamb  of  God  such  indignation  in  him?  Can 
the  meek,  the  compassionate,  the  merciful  Son  of 
Cod  put  on  such  terrible  forms  and  appearances? 
Are  his  tender  mercies  vanished  quite  away,  and 
will  he  renounce  the  kind  aspect  and  the  gentle  lan- 
guage of  a lamb  for  ever? 

To  this  I answer,  that  the  various  glories  and 
offices  of  our  blessed  Lord  require  a variety  of  human 
metaphors  and  emblems  to  represent  them.  He 
was  a Lamb,  full  of  gentleness,  meekness  and  com- 
passion, to  invite  and  encourage  sinful  perishing 
creatures  to  accept  of  divine  mercy:  but,  he  has 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


115 


now  to  deal  with  obstinate  and  rebellious  criminals, 
who  renounce  his  Father’s  mercy,  and  resist  all 
the  gentle  methods  of  his  own  grace  and  salva- 
tion ; and  he  is  sent  by  the  Father  to  punish  those 
rebellions:  but  he  is  named  the  Lamb  of  God  still, 
to  put  the  rebels  in  mind  what  gentleness  and 
compassions  they  have  affronted  and  abused,  and 
to  make  it  appear  that  their  guilt  is  utterly  inex- 
cusable. 

Let  us  remember  Christ  is  now  a Lamb  raised  to 
the  throne  in  heaven,  and  furnished  and  armed  with 
seven  eyes  and  seven  horns,  with  perfect  knowledge 
and  perfect  power  to  govern  the  world,  to  vindicate 
his  own  honour,  and  to  avenge  himself  upon  his 
impenitent  and  obstinate  enemies.  Rev.  v.  5,  6. 
Here  the  Lamb  will  assume  the  name  of  the  Lion  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah  also,  and  he  must  act  in  different 
characters  according  to  the  persons  he  had  to  deal 
with.  The  second  general  question  which  we  are 
to  consider,  is,  How  comes  the  wrath  of  that  great 
day  to  be  so  terrible? 

I answer  in  general,  Because  it  is  not  only  the 
wrath  of  God,  but  of  the  Lamb:  it  is  the  wrath 
that  is  manifested  for  the  affronts  of  divine  authority 
and  the  abuse  of  divine  mercy:  it  is  wrath  that  is 
awakened  by  the  contempt  of  the  laws  of  God 
written  in  the  books  of  nature  and  scripture,  and  for 
the  contempt  of  his  love  revealed  in  the  gospel  by 
Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  proper  to  observe  here,  that  the  wrath  of 
God  and  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  are  not  to  be  con- 
ceived as  exactly  the  same,  for  it  is  the  wrath  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  his  human  nature  exalted,  as  well  as 
the  displeasure  of  God  the  Father : it  is  the  right- 
eous and  holy  resentment  of  the  man  Jesus  awakened 
and  let  loose  against  rebellious  creatures,  that  have 
broken  all  the  rules  of  his  Father’s  government, 
and  have  refused  all  the  proposals  of  his  Father’s 


116 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


grace:  it  is  the  wrath  of  the  highest,  the  greatest 
and  the  best  of  creatures  joined  to  the  wrath  of  an 
offended  Creator.*  But  let  us  enter  a little  into  par- 
ticulars. 

1.  It  is  righteous  wrath  and  just  and  deserved  ven- 
geance that  arises  from  the  clearest  discoveries  of  the 
love  of  God  neglected  and  the  sweetest  messages 
of  divine  grace  refused.  All  the  former  discoveries 
of  the  love  of  God  to  men,  both  in  nature  and  pro- 
vidence, as  well  as  by  divine  revelation,  whether  made 
by  men  or  by  angels,  whether  in  the  days  of  the 
patriarchs,  or  in  the  days  of  Moses  and  the  Jews,  were 
far  inferior  to  the  grace  which  was  revealed  by  Jesus 
Christ:  and  therefore  the  sin  of  rejecting  it  is  greater 
in  proportion,  and  the  punishment  will  be  more  se- 
vere. “ If  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was  steadfast, 
and  every  transgression  and  disobedience  received  a 
just  recompense  of  reward, — how  shall  we  escape 
if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation,  as  this  which  began 
to  be  spoken  by  our  Lord?”  Heb.  ii.  2,  3. 

Moses  had  many  true  discoveries  of  grace  made  to 
him  and  intrusted  with  him  for  sinful  men : but  the 
scripture  saith,  John  i.  17,  “The  law  came  by  Mo- 

# Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  when  the  holy  scripture  speaks 
of  the  wrath  and  indignation  of  the  blessed  God,  we  are  not  to 
understand  it  as  though  God  were  subject  to  such  passions  or 
affections  of  nature,  as  we  feel  fermenting  or  working  within 
ourselves  when  our  anger  rises:  but  because  the  justice  or  rec- 
toral  wisdom  of  God  inclines  him  to  bring  natural  evil,  pain  or 
sorrow  upon  those  who  are  obstinately  guilty  of  moral  evil  or 
sin,  and  to  treat  them  as  anger  or  wrath  inclines  men  to  treat 
those  that  have  offended  them,  therefore,  the  scripture,  speaking 
after  the  manner  of  men,  calls  it  the  wrath  and  indignation  of 
God. 

And  it  is  hard  to  say,  whether  or  not  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb, 
that  is,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  Godhead  dwells,  be  any 
thing  more  than  the  calm,  dispassionate,  rectoral  wisdom  of  the 
human  nature  of  Christ  inclining  him  to  punish  rebellious  and 
impenitent  sinners,  in  conformity  to  the  will  of  God  his  Fa- 
ther or  in  concurrence  with  the  Godhead  which  dwells  in  him. 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


117 


ses,  and  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,”  i.  e. 
in  such  superabundance,  as  though  grace  and  truth 
had  never  appeared  in  the  world  before.  The  for- 
giving mercy  of  God,  under  the  veil  of  ceremonies 
and  sacrifices,  and  the  mediation  of  Christ  under  the 
type  of  the  high  priest,  was  but  a dark  and  imperfect 
discovery  in  comparison  of  the  free,  the  large,  the 
full  forgiveness  which  is  brought  to  us  by  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  Learn  this  doctrine  at  large  from  Heb. 
x.  1 — 14.  This  is  amazing  mercy,  astonishing 

grace,  and  the  despisers  of  it  will  deserve  to  perish 
with  double  destruction ; for  they  wink  with  their  eyes 
against  clearer  light,  and  reject  the  offers  of  more 
abounding  love. 

2.  It  is  wrath  that  is  awakened  by  the  most  pre- 
cious and  most  expensive  methods  of  salvation  slight- 
ed and  undervalued.  Well  may  God  say  to  Chris- 
tian nations,  especially  to  Great  Britain  who  sits  under 
the  daily  sound  of  this  gospel,  “ What  could  I have 
done  more  for  you  than  I have  done?*’  Isa.  v.  4.  I 
have  sent  my  own  Son,  the  Son  of  my  bosom,  the 
Son  of  my  eternal  love,  to  take  flesh  and  blood  upon 
him,  that  he  might  be  able  to  die  in  your  stead  who 
were  guilty  rebels  and  deserved  to  die:  I have  given 
him  up  to  the  insults  and  injuries  of  men,  to  the 
temptations,  the  buffetings  and  rage  of  devils,  to  the 
stroke  of  the  sword  of  my  justice,  to  the  cursed  death 
of  the  cross  for  you ; here  is  heaven  and  salvation 
purchased  for  man  with  the  dearest  and  most  valua- 
ble life  in  all  the  creation,  with  the  richest  blood  that 
ever  ran  in  the  veins  of  a creature,  with  the  life  and 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  you  refused  to  re- 
ceive and  accept  of  this  salvation  procured  at  so  im- 
mense a price.  I called  you  to  partake  of  this  in- 
valuable blessing  freely,  without  money  and  without 
price,  and  yet  you  slighted  all  these  offers  of  mercy; 
what  remains  but  that  my  wrrath  should  kindle  against 
you  in  the  hottest  degree,  and  fill  your  souls  with  ex- 


118 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


quisite  anguish  and  misery?  You  have  refused  to  ac- 
cept of  a covenant  which  was  sealed  with  the  blood 
of  my  own  Son,  which  was  confirmed  by  miraculous 
operations  of  my  own  Spirit ; you  have  valued  your 
sinful  pleasures  and  the  trifles  of  this  vain  world  above 
the  blood  of  my  Son  and  the  life  of  your  souls.  It  is 
proper  that  divine  vengeance  should  be  your  portion, 
who  have  rejected  such  rich  treasures  of  divine  love. 
Heb.  x.  28 — 31 : “ He  that  despised  Moses’s  law  died 
without  mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses ; of  how 
much  sorer  punishment  suppose  ye  shall  he  be  thought 
worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God, 
and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  where- 
with he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done 
despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ? For  we  know  him 
that  hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me;  I will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord.” 

6.  It  is  wrath  that  must  avenge  the  affronts  and  inju- 
ries done  to  the  prime  minister  of  God’s  government 
and  the  chief  messenger  of  his  mercy.  All  the  patri- 
archs and  the  prophets  and  angels  themselves,  were 
but  servants  to  bring  messages  of  divine  grace  to  men: 
and  some  of  them  in  awful  forms  and  appearances  re- 
presented the  authority  of  God  too : but  the  Son  of 
God  is  the  prime  minister  of  his  government,  and  the 
noblest  ambassador  of  his  grace,  and  the  chief  deputy 
or  vicegerent  in  his  Father’s  kingdom.  See  Heb. 
i.  1,  2;  Psal.  ii.  6,  9,  12.  His  Father’s  glory  and 
grandeur,  compassion  and  love,  are  most  sublimely 
exhibited  in  the  face  of  Christ  his  Son,  and  God 
will  not  have  his  highest  and  fairest  image  disgraced 
and  affronted  without  peculiar  and  signal  vengeance. 

The  great  God  will  vindicate  the  honours  of  his 
Son  Jesus  in  the  infinite  destruction  of  a rebellious 
and  unbelieving  world;  and  the  Son  himself  hath 
wrath  and  just  resentment : he  will  vindicate  his  own 
authority  and  his  commission  of  grace.  He  hath  a 
rod  of  iron  put  into  his  hands  as  well  as  a sceptre 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


119 


of  mercy,  and  with  this  rod  will  he  break  to  pieces 
rebellious  nations.  Rev.  iii.  latter  end.  It  is  not  fit 
that  the  first  minister  of  the  empire  of  the  King  of 
heaven  and  the  brightest  image  of  his  majesty  and 
of  his  love,  should  appear  always  in  the  character 
of  a Lamb,  a meek  and  unresenting  creature.  He 
will  put  on  the  Lion,  when  his  commission  of  grace 
is  ended:  he  is  the  “Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah. ” 
Rev.  v.  5.  And  will  rend  the  caul  of  the  heart  of 
those  unrepenting  sinners  who  have  resisted  his  au- 
thority and  abused  his  love. 

And  how  will  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  of  God  pe- 
netrate the  souls  of  sinners  with  intense  anguish, 
when  the  meek  and  the  compassionate  Jesus  shall 
be  commissioned  and  constrained  to  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  resentment  and  divine  indignation? 

“ Did  you  not  hear  of  me,  sinners,  in  yonder  world, 
which  lies  weltering  in  flames?  Did  you  not  read 
of  me  in  the  gospel  of  my  grace?  Did  you  not 
learn  my  character  and  my  salvation  in  the  minis- 
trations of  my  word  ? Were  you  not  told  that  I 
was  appointed  to  be  the  Saviour  of  a lost  world,  and 
a minister  of  divine  mercy  to  men?  And  was  there 
not  abundant  evidence  of  it  by  miracles  and  pro- 
phecies? Were  you  not  told  that  I was  exalted  af- 
ter my  sufferings  to  the  right  hand  of  God  on  pur- 
pose to  “bestow  repentance  and  remission  of  sins?” 
Acts  v.  31.  And  were  you  not  informed  also,  that 
I had  a rod  of  iron  given  me  to  dash  rebels  to  death? 
Psal.  ii.  What  is  the  reason  you  never  came  to  me, 
or  submitted  to  my  government,  or  accepted  of  my 
grace?  Did  you  never  hear  of  the  threatenings 
that  stood  like  drawn  swords  against  those  who 
wilfully  refuse  this  mercy?  Did  you  think  these 
were  mere  bugbears,  mere  sounding  words. to  fright 
children  with,  and  harmless  thunder  that  would 
never  blast  you?  Did  you  think  these  flashes  of 
wrath  in  my  word  were  such  sort  of  lightning  as 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


120 

you  might  safely  play  with,  and  flame  that  would 
never  burn?  What  punishments,  think  you,  do  you 
deserve,  first  for  the  abuse  of  my  authority,  and 
then  for  the  wilful  and  obstinate  refusal  of  my 
grace?  Is  it  not  divinely  fit  and  proper,  my  wrath 
should  awake  against  such  heinous  criminals? 
Where  is  any  proper  object  for  my  resentment  if 
you  are  not  made  objects  of  it?  Take  them,  angels, 
bind  them  hand  and  foot,  and  take  them  into  outer 
darkness:  let  them  be  thrown  headlong  into  the  pri- 
son of  hell,  where  fire  and  brimstone  burn  un- 
quenchably,  where  light  and  peace  and  hope  can 
never  come.  Let  them  be  crushed  with  the  rod  of 
iron  which  the  Father  hath  put  into  my  hands  as 
the  first  minister  of  his  kingdom,  as  the  avenger  of 
his  despised  grace.’* 

4.  It  is  a wrath  that  is  excited  by  a final  and  utter 
rejection  of  the  last  proposals  of  divine  love.  When 
mercy  was  offered  to  men  by  the  blessed  God  at 
first,  the  discoveries  were  more  dark  and  imperfect, 
there  were  still  farther  discoveries  to  be  made  in  fol- 
lowing ages:  therefore  the  crime  and  guilt  of  sin- 
ners in  those  former  days,  was  much  less  than  the 
crime  and  guilt  of  those  who  reject  this  last  proposal 
of  mercy.  There  is  no  farther  edition  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  for  those  who  refuse  this  offer.  Those 
who  neglected  Christ  as  he  is  set  forth  in  the  gospel 
to  be  a sacrifice  for  sin,  “ there  remains  no  more  sa- 
crifice for  them,  but  a certain  fearful  expectation  of 
vengeance  and  fiery  indignation  which  shall  consume 
the  adversary.”  Heb.  x.  26,  28. 

All  the  former  dispensations  of  grace  are  con- 
tained eminently  and  completed  in  this  dispensa- 
tion of  the  gospel.  God  can  send  no  greater  mes- 
senger than  his  own  Son,  and  he  concludes  and 
finishes  the  whole  scene  and  period  of  grace  with 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  remains  nothing  but 
wrath  to  the  uttermost  for  those  who  have  abused 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


121 


this  last  offer  of  mercy.  This  was  exemplified  in 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Jews  a little 
after  they  had  put  Christ  to  death,  and  rejected  the 
salvation  which  he  proposed;  and  this  wrath  will 
be  more  terribly  glorified  in  the  final  destruction  of 
every  sinner  that  wilfully  rejects  the  glad  tidings  of 
this  salvation. 

5.  It  is  such  wrath  as  arises  from  the  patience  of 
a God  tired  and  worn  out  by  the  boldest  iniquities 
of  men,  and  by  a final  perseverance  in  their  rebel- 
lions. It  is  the  character  and  glory  of  God  to  be 
“ long-suffering  and  slow  to  anger.”  Exod.  xxxiv.  6: 
“ The  Lord  God  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffer- 
ing, and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth and  Je- 
sus his  Son  is  the  minister  of  this  his  patience,  and 
the  intercessor  for  this  delay  of  judgment  and  ven- 
geance. He  is  represented  as  interceding  one  year 
after  another  for  the  reprieve  of  obstinate  sinners, 
and  at  his  intercession  God  the  Father  waits  to  be 
gracious  : but  God  will  not  wait  and  delay  and  keep 
silence  for  ever,  nor  will  Jesus  for  ever  plead.  Psal. 
1.  1,  3,  21,  22:  “ Consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God, 
lest  he  tear  you  in  pieces,  and  there  be  none  to  de- 
liver.” God  will  say  then  to  obstinate  sinners,  as  he 
did  to  the  Jews  of  old,  Jor.  xv.  5,  6,  “I  will  stretch 
out  my  hand  against  thee  and  destroy  thee:  I am 
weary  of  repenting:”  and  even  the  abused  patience 
of  Jesus  the  Saviour  shall  turn  into  fury,  when  the 
day  of  recompense  shall  come,  and  the  “day  of  ven- 
geance which  is  in  his  heart.”  Isa.  lxiii.  1,  4. 

O let  each  of  us  consider,  “ How  have  I made  the 
grace  of  God  wait  on  me?  How  many  messages 
of  peace  and  pardon  have  I neglected?  How  many 
years  have  I delayed  to  accept  of  this  sab  ation,  and 
made  Jesus  wait  on  an  impenitent  rebel  with  the 
commission  of  mercy  in  his  hand,  while  I have  re- 
fused to  receive  it?  Let  my  soul  be  this  day  awa- 
12 


122 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


kened  to  lay  hold  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  to  submit 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ;  lest  to-morrow  the  days  of 
his  commission  of  mercy  toward  me  expire,  lest  the 
patience  of  God  be  finished,  lest  the  abused  love  of 
the  Saviour  turn  into  fury,  and  nothing  remain  for 
me  but  unavoidable  destruction.’* 

It  is  a sentence  of  divine  wrath  which  shall  be  at- 
tended with  the  fullest  conviction  of  sinners,  and 
self-condemnation  in  their  own  consciences.  This 
doubles  the  sensations  of  divine  wrath,  and  enhances 
the  anguish  of  the  criminal  to  a high  degree. 

This  final  unbelief  and  rejection  of  grace  is  a sin 
against  so  much  light  and  so  much  love,  that  how- 
ever men  cheat  their  consciences  now,  and  charm 
them  into  silence,  yet  at  the  last  great  day  their  own 
consciences  shall  be  on  the  side  of  the  Judge,  when 
he  pronounces  wrath  and  damnation  upon  them. 
What  infinite  terrors  will  shake  the  soul  when  there 
is  not  one  of  its  own  thoughts  can  speak  peace  with- 
in? When  all  its  own  inward  powers  shall  echo  to 
the  sentence  of  the  Judge,  and  acknowledge  the 
justice  and  equity  of  it  for  ever. 

Oh  who  can  express  the  agonies  of  pain  and  torture, 
when  the  impenitent  sinner  shall  be  awakened  into 
such  reflections  as  these?  “I  was  placed  in  a land 
of  light  and  knowledge;  the  light  of  the  gospel  of 
grace  shone  all  round  me;  but  I winked  my  eyes 
against  the  light,  and  now  I am  plunged  into  utter 
and  eternal  darkness.  I was  convinced  often  that  I 
was  a sinner  and  in  danger  of  death  and  hell,  I was 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel  and  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  the  salvation  of  Christ,  but  I loved 
the  vanities  of  this  life,  I followed  the  appetites  of 
the  flesh  and  the  delusive  charms  of  a tempting 
world ; I delayed  to  answer  to  the  voice  of  providence 
and  the  voice  of  mercy,  the  voice  of  the  gospel  in- 
viting me  to  this  salvation,  and  the  voice  of  Christ 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


123 


requiring  me  to  be  saved.  My  own  heart  condemns 
me  with  ten  thousand  reproaches : how  righteous  is 
God  in  his  indignation!  How  just  is  the  resentment 
of  the  Lamb  of  God  in  this  day  of  his  wrath!  What 
clear  and  convincing  and  dreadful  equity  attends  the 
sentence  of  my  condemnation,  and  doubles  the  an- 
guish of  my  soul!” 

7.  It  is  such  wrath  as  shall  be  executed  immedi- 
ately and  eternally,  without  one  hour  of  reprieve, 
and  without  the  least  hope  of  mercy,  and  that  through 
all  the  ages  to  come:  for  though  Jesus  is  the  Media- 
tor between  God  and  man,  to  reconcile  those  to  God 
who  have  broken  his  law,  there  is  no  Mediator  ap- 
pointed to  reconcile  those  sinners  to  Christ  when 
they  have  finally  resisted  the  grace  of  his  gospel. 
There  is  no  blood  nor  death  that  can  atone  for 
the  final  rejection  of  the  blood  of  this  dying  Sa- 
viour. If  we  resist  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  and  his 
atonement  and  his  sacrifice,  his  gospel  and  his  salva- 
tion, there  remains  no  more  atonement  for  us.  Let 
us  consider  each  of  these  circumstances  apart,  and 
dwell  a little  on  these  terrors,  that  our  hearts  may 
be  affected  with  them. 

(1.)  This  wrath  shall  be  executed  immediately, 
for  the  time  of  reprieve  is  come  to  an  end.  Here 
divine  wisdom  and  justice  have  set  the  limits  of  di- 
vine patience,  and  they  reach  no  farther. 

(2.)  It  is  wrath  that  shall  be  executed  without  mer- 
cy, because  the  day  and  hour  of  mercy  is  for  ever 
finished.  That  belongs  only  to  this  life.  The  day 
of  grace  is  gone  for  ever:  he  that  once  made  them 
will  now  have  no  mercy  upon  them,  and  he  that  form- 
ed them  will  show  them  no  favour.  Isa.  xxvii.  11. 
The  very  mercy  of  the  Mediator,  the  compassion  of 
the  Lamb  of  God  is  turned  into  wrath  and  fury. 
The  Lamb  himself  has  put  on  the  form  of  a lion,  and 
there  is  no  redeemer  or  advocate  to  speak  a word  for 


124 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


them  who  have  finally  rejected  Jesus  the  only  Medi- 
ator, worn  out  the  age  of  his  pity,  and  provoked  his 
wrath  as  well  as  his  Father’s. 

(3.)  It  is  wrath  without  end,  for  their  souls  are  im- 
mortal, their  bodies  are  raised  to  an  immortal  state, 
and  their  whole  nature  being  sinful  and  miserable 
and  immortal,  they  must  endure  a wretched  and  mi- 
serable immortality.  This  is  the  representation  of 
the  book  of  God,  even  of  the  New  Testament,  and  I 
have  no  commission  from  God  either  to  soften  these 
words  of  terror,  or  to  shorten  the  term  of  their  mi- 
sery. 

REMARKS  ON  THIS  DISCOURSE. 

Remark  1.  What  a wretched  mistake  is  it  to  ima- 
gine the  great  God  is  nothing  else  but  mercy,  and 
Jesus  Christ  is  nothing  else  but  love  and  salvation. 
It  is  true,  God  has  more  mercy  than  we  can  imagine: 
his  love  is  boundless  in  many  of  its  exercises,  and 
Jesus  his  Son,  who  is  the  image  of  the  Father,  is  the 
fairest  image  of  his  love  and  grace.  His  compassions 
have  heights  and  depths  and  lengths  and  breadths  in 
them  that  pass  all  our  knowledge.  Eph.  iii.  18. 
But  God  is  a universal  Sovereign,  a wise  and  righ- 
teous Governor:  there  is  majesty  with  him  as  well  as 
grace;  and  Jesus  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings: 
he  bears  the  image  of  his  Father’s  justice  as  well  as 
of  his  Father’s  love;  otherwise  he  could  not  be  the 
full  brightness  of  his  glory,  nor  the  express  image 
of  his  person. 

And  besides,  the  Father  hath  armed  him  with 
powers  of  divine  vengeance  as  well  as  with  powers 
of  mercy  and  salvation,  Psal.  ii.  9.  He  has  put  the 
rod  of  iron  into  his  hand  “ to  dash  the  nations  like  a 
potter’s  vessel.”  Rev.  ii.  27,  and  xix.  13.  He  is  the 
“ elect  and  precious  corner  stone  laid  in  Zion.”  1 
Pet.  ii.  6.  But  he  is  the  stone  that  “ will  bruise  those 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


125 


who  stumble  at  him,  and  those  on  whom  he  shall 
fall  he  will  grind  them  to  powder.’*  Matt.  xxi.  42. 
He  is  a Lamb  and  a Lion  too:  he  can  suffer  at  Je- 
rusalem and  Mount  Calvary  with  silence,  and  not 
open  his  mouth,  and  he  can  roar  from  heaven  with 
overspreading  terror,  and  shake  the  world  with  the 
sound  of  his  anger.  See  that  his  mercy  be  not 
abused. 

Remark  2.  The  day  of  Christ’s  patience  makes 
haste  to  an  end.  Every  day  of  neglected  grace 
hastens  on  the  hour  of  his  wrath  and  vengeance. 
Sinners  waste  their  months  and  years  in  rebellion 
against  his  love,  while  he  waits  months  and  years  to 
be  gracious : but  Christ  is  all-wise,  and  he  knows  the 
proper  period  of  long-suffering,  and  the  proper  mo- 
ment to  let  all  his  wrath  and  resentment  loose  on 
obstinate  and  unreclaimable  sinners.  Oh  may  every 
one  of  our  souls  awake  to  faith  and  repentance,  to  re- 
ligion and  righteousness,  to  hope  and  salvation,  before 
this  day  of  our  peace  be  finished  and  gone  for  ever. 
Psal.  ii.  12:  “Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and 
ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled 
but  a little.”  There  was  once  a season  when  he  saw 
the  nation  of  the  Jews  and  the  people  of  Jerusalem 
wasting  the  proposals  of  his  love;  they  let  their  day 
of  mercy  pass  away  unimproved,  and  he  foretold  their 
destruction  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  Luke  xix.  41, 
42:  “He  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it;”  alas,  for 
the  inhabitants,  who  would  not  be  saved.  He  was 
then  a messenger  of  salvation,  and  clothed  with  pity 
to  sinners ; but  in  the  last  great  day  of  his  wrath  there 
is  no  place  for  these  tears  of  compassion,  no  room  for 
pity  or  forgiveness. 

Remark  3.  When  we  preach  terror  to  obstinate 
sinners,  we  may  approach  Jesus  Christ  as  well  as 
when  we  preach  love  and  salvation ; for  he  is  the 
minister  of  his  Father’s  government  both  in  ven- 
geance and  mercy:  the  Lamb  hath  wrath  as  wrell  as 

12* 


126 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 


grace,  and  he  is  to  be  feared  as  well  as  to  be  trusted ; 
and  be  must  be  represented  under  all  the  characters 
of  dignity  to  which  he  is  exalted,  that  knowing  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord  as  well  as  the  compassion  of  the 
Saviour,  we  may  persuade  sinful  men  to  accept  of 
salvation  and  happiness. 


DISCOURSE  VI. 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

OR, 

A Meditation  on  the  Rocks  near  Tunbridge  Wells. 
1729. 


Rev.  vi.  15,  16,  17. 

And  the  kings  of  the  earth , and  the  great  men , and  the  rich 
men , $-c.,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the 
mountains:  And  said  to  the  rocks  and  mountains , Fall  on  us, 
and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne , and 
from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb. 

In  the  former  discourse  on  this  text,  we  have  taken 
a survey  of  these  two  persons  and  their  characters, 
God  and  the  Lamb,  whose  united  wrath  spreads  so 
terrible  a scene  through  the  world  at  the  great  judg- 
ment day;  we  have  also  inquired  and  found  suffi- 
cient reasons  why  the  anger  and  justice  of  God  should 
be  so  severe  against  the  sinful  sons  and  daughters 
of  men  who  have  wilfully  broken  his  law  and  refused 
the  grace  of  his  gospel,  and  why  the  indignation  of 
the  Son  of  God  should  be  super-added  to  all  the  ter- 
rors of  his  Father’s  vengeance. 


128  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

We  are  come  now  to  the  third  and  last  general 
head  of  discourse,  and  that  is  to  consider  how  vain 
will  all  the  refuges  and  hopes  of  sinners  be  found 
in  that  dreadful  day,  when  God  and  the  Lamb  shall 
join  to  manifest  their  wrath  and  indignation  against 
them. 

These  hopes  and  shifts  and  refuges  of  rebellious 
and  guilty  creatures,  are  represented  by  a noble 
image  and  description  in  my  text:  they  shall  call  to 
the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  fail  upon  them  and  to 
cover  them  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sits  upon  the 
throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  As  this 
address  to  mountains  and  to  rocks  appears  to  be  but 
a vain  hope  in  extreme  distress,  when  a feeble  and 
helpless  criminal  is  pursued  by  a swift  and  mighty 
avenger,  so  vain  and  fruitless  shall  all  the  hopes  of 
sinners  be  to  escape  the  just  indignation  and  sentence 
of  their  Judge.  In  order  to  show  the  vanity  of  all 
the  refuges  and  shifts  to  which  sinners  shall  betake 
themsel  ves  in  that  day,  let  us  spread  abroad  this  sacred 
description  of  them  in  a paraphrase  under  the  follow- 
ing heads. 

1.  Let  us  consider  the  rocks  and  mountains  as 
vast  and  mighty  created  beings,  of  huge  figure  and 
high  appearance,  whose  aid  is  sought  in  the  last  ex- 
tremity of  distress;  and  what  is  this  but  calling  upon 
creatures  to  help  them  against  their  Creator?  What 
is  it  but  flying  to  creatures  to  deliver  and  save  them 
when  their  offended  God  resolves  to  punish?  A vain 
refuge  indeed,  when  God,  the  Almighty  maker  of 
all  things,  and  Jesus  his  Son,  by  whom  all  things  were 
made,  shall  agree  to  arise  and  go  forth  against  them 
in  their  robes  of  judgment  and  with  their  artillery 
of  vengeance?  What  created  being  dares  interpose 
in  that  hour  to  shelter  or  defend  a condemned  cri- 
minal? What  high  and  mighty  creature  is  able  to 
afford  the  least  security  or  protection? 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  129 

The  princes  of  the  earth  and  the  captains,  the 
kings  and  heroes  and  conquerors,  with  all  their  mil- 
lions of  armed  men,  are  not  able  to  lift  a hand  for 
the  defence  of  one  sinner  against  the  anger  of  God 
and  the  Lamb.  They  themselves  shall  quake  and 
shiver  at  the  tremendous  sight,  and  they  shall  fly  into 
the  holes  of  the  rocks  like  mere  cowards,  and  shall 
join  their  outcries  with  the  poor  and  the  slave,  en- 
treating the  rocks  and  mountains  to  befriend  them 
with  shelter  and  safety. 

Not  the  highest  mountains,  not  the  hardest  or  the 
strongest  rocks,  not  the  most  exalted  or  most  power- 
ful persons  or  things  in  nature  can  defend  when  the 
God  of  nature  resolves  to  destroy : when  he  who  is 
higher  than  the  highest,  and  stronger  than  the  strong- 
est, shall  pronounce  destruction  upon  rebels,  what 
creature  can  speak  deliverance? 

The  rocks  and  mountains  obey  their  Maker,  they 
shiver  in  pieces  at  the  word  of  his  wrath,  and  will  yield 
no  relief  to  criminals:  but  man,  rebellious  man, 
disobeys  his  Maker  and  calls  to  the  rocks  and  moun- 
tains to  protect  him.  Vain  hope,  O sinner,  to  make 
the  most  exalted  creatures  your  friends,  when  God 
the  Creator  is  your  enemy.  These  inanimate  things 
have  never  learnt  disobedience  to  their  Maker,  and 
rather  than  screen  a rebel  from  his  deserved  judg- 
ments, they  will  offer  themselves  as  instruments  of 
divine  vengeance. 

2.  Rocks  and  mountains  in  their  cliffs  and  dens 
and  caverns,  are  sometimes  considered  as  places  of 
secrecy  and  concealment.  My  text  tells  us,  that 
“kings  and  mighty  men,  the  rich  and  the  free  man, 
as  well  as  the  poor  and  the  slave,  hid  themselves 
in  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains.”  They 
hoped  there  might  be  some  secret  corner  whose  thick 
shadows  and  darkness  were  sufficient  to  hide  them, 
where  the  Judge  might  not  spy  or  find  them  out. 


130 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


Vain  hope  for  sinners  to  hide  in  the  holes  of  the  rocks 
and  the  deepest  caverns  of  the  mountains,  to  escape 
the  notice  of  that  God  who  is  all  eye  and  all  ear,  and 
present  at  once  in  every  place  of  earth  and  heaven ! 
Foolish  expectation  indeed,  to  avoid  the  notice  of  the 
Son  of  God,  whose  eyes  are  as  a flame  of  fire,  and 
shoot  through  the  earth  and  its  darkest  caves. 

Read  the  139th  Psalm,  oh  sinner,  and  then  think 
if  it  be  possible  to  flee  from  the  eye  of  God,  and  to 
hide  thyself  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock  where  his  hand 
shall  not  find  thee.  He  has  already  beset  thee  behind 
and  before,  and  his  hand  already  compasses  thee  round 
about  in  all  thy  paths.  Darkness  itself  cannot  cover 
thee;  the  night  shines  as  the  day  before  him,  and 
scatters  light  round  about  the  criminal  that  would 
hide  himself  from  the  wrath  of  God.  Ask  Jeremy 
the  prophet  and  he  shall  tell  thee,  that  “none  can  hide 
himself  in  secret  places  where  God  shall  not  see  him, 
the  God  who  fills  heaven  and  earth. ” Jer.  xxiii.  4. 
He  shall  hunt  obstinate  sinners  from  every  mountain 
and  out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  for  his  eyes  are 
upon  all  their  ways,  neither  their  persons  nor  their 
iniquities  can  be  hid  from  him. 

And  as  you  can  never  conceal  yourselves  from  the 
sight  and  notice  of  the  Judge,  so  neither  can  you  turn 
your  eyes  away  from  him:  you  must  behold  his  face 
in  vengeance,  and  endure  the  distressing  sight.  The 
rays  of  his  majesty  in  the  day  of  his  wrath  shall  strike 
through  all  the  crannies  of  the  darkest  den,  and  pierce 
the  deepest  shade.  “Lord,  when  thy  hand  is  lifted 
up,  they  will  not  see;  but  they  shall  see,  and  be 
ashamed/’  Isa.  xxvi.  10.  And  the  face  of  the  Lamb 
must  be  seen  in  all  its  unknown  terrors.  Rev.  i. 
7.  “Behold,  he  comes  in  the  clouds,  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him:’*  the  guilty  creature  and  the 
divine  avenger  shall  meet  eye  to  eye,  though 
the  creature  has  hid  himself  under  rocks  and  moun- 
tains. 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  131 

3.  These  rocks  and  mountains  are  designed  to 
represent  not  only  concealment  and  darkness  by 
their  holes  and  caverns,  but  they  are  known  bulwarks 
of  defence,  and  places  of  security  and  shelter,  by 
reason  of  their  strength  and  thickness.  When  the 
prophet  would  express  the  safety  of  the  man  who 
practises  righteousness  in  a vicious  age,  Isa.  xxxiii. 
16,  he  says,  “He  shall  dwell  on  high;  his  place  of 
defence  shall  be  the  munitions  of  rocks.’*  These  shall 
be  a bulwark  round  him  for  his  guard  and  safety. 
When  sinners  therefore  dee  to  the  mountains  and 
to  the  rocks,  they  may  be  supposed  to  seek  a thick 
covering  or  a shield  of  defence  to  secure  them, 
where  the  strokes  of  divine  anger  shall  not  break 
through  and  reach  them:  they  trust  to  the  solid 
protection  of  the  rocks  and  the  strength  of  the 
mountains  to  guard  them;  but  these,  alas,  can  yield 
no  shelter  from  the  stroke  of  the  arm  of  God.  Should 
the  rocks,  oh  sinner,  attempt  to  befriend  thee,  and 
surround  thee  with  their  thickest  fortification,  his 
wrath  would  cleave  them  asunder  and  pierce  thee 
to  the  soul  with  greater  ease  than  thou  canst  break 
through  a paper  wall  with  the  battering  engines  of 
war.  Ask  the  prophet  Nahum,  who  was  acquainted 
with  the  majesty  of  God,  and  he  shall  tell  thee,  how 
it  “throws  down  the  mountain,  and  tears  the  rock 
in  pieces:  when  his  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire,  the 
mountains  quake  at  him,  the  hills  melt,  the  earth  is 
burnt  at  his  presence  with  all  that  dwell  therein. 
He  that  has  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the 
storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet,  what 
mountain  can  stand  before  his  indignation,  and 
where  is  the  rock  that  can  abide  in  the  fierceness 
of  his  anger?”  Nah.  i.  2 — 6.  Were  the  whole 
globe  of  the  earth  one  massy  rock,  and  should  it 
yawn  to  the  very  centre  to  give  thee  a refuge  and 
hiding-place,  and  then  close  again  and  surround 


132  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

thee  with  its  solid  defence,  yet  when  the  Lord  com- 
mands, the  earth  will  obey  the  voice  of  him  that  made 
it:  this  solid  earth  would  cleave  again,  and  resign 
the  guilty  prisoner,  and  yield  thee  up  to  the  sword 
of  his  justice.  Wheresoever  a God  resolves  to  strike, 
safety  and  defence  are  impossible  things.  The 
sinner  must  suffer  without  remedy  and  without 
hope,  who  has  provoked  an  Almighty  God,  and 
awakened  the  wrath  of  that  Saviour  who  can  subdue 
all  things  to  himself. 

4.  Rocks  and  mountains  falling  upon  us  are  instru- 
ments of  sudden  and  overwhelming  death.  When 
sinners  therefore  call  to  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  fall  upon  them  and  cover  them,  they  are  supposed 
to  endeavour  to  put  an  end  to  their  own  beings  by 
some  overwhelming  destruction,  that  they  may  not 
live  to  feel  and  endure  the  resentment  of  an  affronted 
God,  and  an  abused  Saviour.  Though  they  are 
just  raised  to  life,  they  would  fain  die  again;  but 
God  who  calls  the  dead  from  their  graves,  will  forbid 
the  rocks  and  the  mountains  and  every  creature,  to 
lend  sinners  their  aid  to  destroy  themselves.  Sin- 
ners in  that  dreadful  day  shall  seek  death,  but  death 
shall  flee  from  them.  Their  natures  are  now  made 
immortal,  and  the  fall  of  rocks  and  mountains 
cannot  crush  them  to  death.  They  must  live  to 
sustain  the  weight  of  divine  wrath,  which  is  heavier 
than  rocks  and  mountains. 

The  life  which  God  hath  now  given  to  men  in 
this  mortal  state  may  be  given  up  again,  or  thrown 
away  by  the  daring  impiety  of  self-murder;  and 
they  may  make  many  creatures  instruments  of  their 
own  destruction;  but  the  life  which  the  Son  of  God 
shall  give  them,  when  he  calls  them  from  the  dead, 
is  everlasting;  they  cannot  resign  their  existence 
and  immortality,  they  cannot  part  with  it,  nor  can 
any  creature  take  it  from  them.  They  would  rather 


THE  VAI£J  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  133 

die  than  see  God  in  his  majesty  or  the  Lamb  arrayed 
in  his  robes  of  judgment;  but  the  wretches  are  im- 
mortalized to  punishment  by  the  long  abused  ma- 
jesty and  power  of  God;  and  they  must  live  for 
ever,  to  learn  what  it  is  to  despise  the  authority  of  a 
God  and  to  abuse  the  grace  of  a Saviour.  Their 
doom  is  “everlasting  burnings:  they  have  no  rest 
day  nor  night,  the  smoke  of  their  torment  will  ascend 
for  ever  and  ever  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb.”  Rev.  xiv.  10,  11. 

Thus  have  we  considered  those  huge  and  bulky 
beings,  the  rocks  and  the  mountains,  in  all  their  vast 
and  mighty  figures  and  appearances,  with  all  their 
clefts  and  dens  and  caverns  for  shelter  and  conceal- 
ment, with  all  their  fortification  and  massy  thickness 
for  defence,  and  with  all  their  power  to  crush  and 
destroy  mankind,  and  yet  we  find  them  utterly  in- 
sufficient to  hide,  cover,  or  protect  guilty  creatures 
in  that  great  day  of  the  wrath  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  FOREGOING  DISCOURSE. 

1.  How  strangely  do  all  the  appearances  of  Christ 
to  sinners  in  the  several  seasons  and  dispensations  of 
his  grace,  differ  from  that  last  great  and  solemn  ap- 
pearance which  to  them  will  be  a dispensation  of 
final  vengeance.  He  visited  the  world  in  divine 
visions  of  old,  even  from  the  day  of  the  sin  of  Adam, 
and  it  was  to  reveal  mercy  to  sinful  man;  and  he 
sometimes  assumed  the  majesty  of  God  to  let  the 
world  know  he  was  not  to  be  trifled  with.  He  visited 
the  earth  at  his  incarnation : how  lowly  was  his  state! 
Ho  w full  of  grace  his  ministry!  Yet  he  then  gave 
notice  of  this  day  of  vengeance,  when  he  should  ap- 
pear in  his  own  and  his  Father’s  most  awful  glories. 

He  visits  the  nations  now  with  the  word  of  salva- 
tion, he  appears  in  the  glass  of  his  gospel,  and  in  the 
ordinances  of  his  sanctuary,  as  a Saviour  whose  heart 
13 


134 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


melts  with  love,  and  in  the  language  of  his  tenderest 
compassions  and  of  his  dying  groans,  he  invites  sin- 
ners to  be  reconciled  to  an  offended  God:  he  ap- 
pears as  a Lamb  made  a sacrifice  for  sin,  and  as  a 
minister  of  his  Father’s  mercy,  offering  and  dis- 
tributing pardons  to  criminals.  But  when  he  visits 
the  world  as  a final  Judge,  how’  solemn  and  illustrious 
will  that  appearance  be!  How  terrible  his  counte- 
nance to  all  those  who  have  refused  to  receive  him  as 
a Saviour!  Behold  he  cometh  in  flaming  fire  with 
ten  thousand  of  his  angels,  to  render  vengeance  to 
them  that  resisted  his  grace  and  disobeyed  the  invi- 
tation of  his  gospel.  2 Thess.  i.  7. 

Time  was  when  the  Father  sent  forth  “his  Son, 
not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  through  him  the 
world  might  be  saved.”  John  iii.  17.  But  the  time 
is  coming,  when  God  shall  send  him  arrayed  with 
majesty  and  with  righteous  indignation,  to  condemn 
the  rebellious  world,  and  inflict  upon  them  the  pains 
of  eternal  death.  Hast  thou  seen  him,  oh  my  soul, 
in  the  discoveries  of  his  mercy?  fly  to  him  with 
all  the  wings  of  faith  and  love:  with  all  the  speed 
of  desire  and  joy  fly  to  him,  receive  his  grace,  and 
accept  of  his  salvation;  that  when  the  day  of  the 
wrath  of  the  Lamb  shall  appear,  thou  mayest  behold 
his  countenance  without  terror  and  confusion. 

Reflection  2.  How  very  different  will  the  thoughts 
of  sinners  be  in  that  day  from  what  they  are  at 
present!  How  different  their  washes  and  their  in- 
clinations! And  that  with  regard  to  this  one  terror 
which  my  text  describes  (viz.)  that  they  shall  address 
themselves  to  the  rocks  and  mountains  for  shelter, 
and  fly  into  the  dens  and  caverns  of  the  earth  for 
concealment  and  safety.  Let  us  survey  this  in  a 
few  particulars. 

Sinners,  whose  looks  were  once  lofty  and  disdain- 
ful, whose  eyes  were  exalted  in  pride,  their  mouth 
set  against  the  heavens  and  their  hearts  haughty  and 
full  of  scorn,  they  shall  be  humbled  to  the  dust  of  the 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  135 

earth,  they  shall  creep  into  the  hiding-places  of  the 
moles  and  the  bats,  and  thrust  their  heads  into  holes 
and  caverns,  and  dens  of  desolation,  at  the  appearance 
of  God  their  Creator  in  flaming  fire,  and  the  Son 
of  God  their  Judge;  for  he  is  the  avenger  of  his 
own  and  his  Father’s  injured  honour. 

Sinners,  who  were  once  fond  of  their  idols  and 
their  sensual  delights,  who  made  idols  to  themselves 
of  every  agreeable  creature,  and  gave  it  that  place 
in  their  hearts  which  belongs  only  to  God,  they 
shall  be  horribly  confounded  in  that  day,  when  God 
shall  appear  in  his  majesty  to  shake  the  earth  to  the 
centre  and  to  burn  the  surface  of  it  with  all  its  bra- 
very. This  is  nobly  described  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
chap,  the  2d  from  10 — 21 : “In  that  day  shall  a man 
cast  his  idols  of  silver  and  his  idols  of  gold,  which  they 
made,  each  one  for  himself  to  worship,  to  the  moles 
and  to  the  bats,  to  go  into  the  clefts  of  the  rocks, 
and  into  the  tops  of  the  rugged  rocks,  for  fear  of  the 
Lord  and  for  the  glory  of  his  majesty,  when  he 
ariseth  to  shake  terribly  the  earth.”  Sinners,  who 
could  not  tell  how  to  spend  a day  without  gay  com- 
pany, those  sons  and  daughters  of  mirth,  who  turned 
their  midnights  into  noon  with  the  splendour  of  their 
lamps,  and  the  rich  and  shining  furniture  of  their 
palaces,  whose  noisy  companions  of  riot,  who  made 
the  streets  of  the  city  resound  with  their  midnight 
revels,  they  shall  now  fly  to  the  solitary  caverns  of 
the  rocks,  and  would  be  glad  to  dwell  there  in  dark- 
ness and  silence  for  ever,  if  they  might  but  avoid 
the  wrath  of  a provoked  God,  and  the  countenance 
of  an  abused  Saviour.  They  would  fain  be  shut 
up  for  ever  from  day-light,  lest  they  should  see  the 
face  of  an  Almighty  enemy,  whose  name  and  honour 
have  been  reproached  in  their  songs  of  lewd  jollity 
and  profaneness. 

Sinners  who  once  were  fond  of  liberty  in  the 
wildest  sense,  and  could  not  bear  that  any  restraints 


136 


the  vain  refuge  of  sinners. 


should  be  laid  upon  their  persons  or  their  wishes,  who 
never  could  endure  the  thought  of  a confinement 
to  their  closets  for  one  half  hour,  to  converse  with 
God  or  with  their  own  souls  there,  they  now  call 
aloud  to  the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  immure 
them  round  as  a refuge  from  the  eye  of  their  Judge. 
They  were  once  perpetually  roving  abroad,  and 
gadding  through  all  the  gay  scenes  of  sensuality, 
in  quest  of  new  and  flowery  pleasures,  but  now  they 
beg  to  be  imprisoned  for  ever  in  the  dens  and  caves 
of  the  earth:  the  deepest  and  most  dismal  caves  are 
their  most  ardent  wishes,  that  they  might  never  see 
the  countenance  of  their  divine  avenger,  nor  feel  the  . 
weight  of  his  hand. 

Sinners,  who  heretofore  thought  themselves  and 
their  deeds  of  darkness  secure  enough  from  the  eye 
of  God,  and  from  the  strokes  of  his  justice,  while  they 
revelled  in  their  common  habitations,  those  w ho  even 
under  the  open  sky  could  defy  the  Almighty,  could 
laugh  at  his  threatenings,  and  mock  the  prophecies 
of  his  vengeance,  now  they  can  find  no  caverns  deep 
or  dark  enough  to  hide  them  from  his  sight;  his 
lightnings  penetrate  the  hardest  rocks,  and  shine 
into  the  deepest  solitudes:  there  is  no  screen  or 
shelter  thick  and  strong  enough  to  stand  between 
God  and  them,  and  to  cover  and  shield  them  from 
his  thunder.  They  call  now  to  the  mountains  and 
rocks  to  be  an  eternal  screen;  but  the  rocks  and 
mountains  are  deaf  to  their  cry;  then  shall  they 
remember  with  unknown  regret  and  anguish,  those 
days  of  grace  when  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  now  their 
Judge,  offered  himself  to  become  a screen  to  them, 
and  a defence  from  the  anger  of  God  their  Creator: 
but  they  rejected  his  offered  grace.  He  would  have 
been  the  Rock  of  their  safety,  where  they  should  have 
found  refuge  from  the  fiery  threatenings  of  the 
broken  lawT,  and  the  majesty  of  an  offended  God : 
the  Father  himself  had  appointed  him  for  this  kind 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  13? 

office  to  repenting  sinners;  and  perhaps  he  gave  Mo- 
ses a type  or  emblem  of  it  when  he  commanded  him- 
self to  hide  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock  to  secure  him 
from  destruction  while  the  burning  blaze  of  his  glory 
passed  by,  Exod.  xxxiii.  22.  And  Isaiah  the  pro- 
phet had  foretold,  that  this  Jesus  should  be  as  a sha- 
dow of  a great  rock  to  shelter  them  from  the  beams 
of  the  wrath  of  God ; but  they  refused  this  blessing, 
they  renounced  this  refuge;  and  now  they  find  there 
is  no  other  rock  sufficient  to  become  a shelter  from 
the  stroke  of  his  Almighty  arm,  or  a sufficient  sha- 
dow from  the  burning  vengeance. 

Sinners,  who  once  overrated  their  flesh  and  blood, 
and  loved  it  with  infinite  fondness,  who  treated  their 
fleshly  appetites  with  excessive  nicety  and  elegance, 
and  affected  a humorous  delicacy  in  every  thing 
round  about  them,  would  now  gladly  creep  into  the 
mouldy  caverns  of  the  rocks,  they  would  be  glad 
to  hide  and  defile  themselves  in  the  dark  and  noisome 
grottoes  of  the  earth,  and  squeeze  their  bodies  into 
the  rough  and  narrow  clefts,  to  shield  themselves  from 
the  indignation  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne  and 
of  the  Lamb. 

Those  who  once  were  so  tender  of  this  mortal  life 
and  limbs,  and  could  not  think  of  bearing  the  least 
hardship  for  the  sake  of  virtue  and  piety,  are  now 
wishing  to  have  those  delicate  limbs  of  theirs  crushed 
by  the  fall  of  rocks  and  mountains:  they  wish 
earnestly  to  have  their  lives  and  their  souls  destroyed 
for  ever,  and  their  whole  natures  buried  in  desolation 
and  death,  if  they  might  but  avoid  the  eternal  agonies 
and  torments  that  are  prepared  for  them.  Now  they 
long  for  caverns  and  graves  to  hide  them  for  ever 
from  the  justice  of  God,  whose  authority  they  have 
despised,  and  from  the  wrath  of  a Saviour  whose 
mercy  they  have  impiously  renounced. 

Look  forward,  oh  my  soul,  to  this  awful  and  dread- 
ful hour;  survey  this  tremendous  scene  of  confusion, 

13* 


133  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

when  sinners  shall  run  counter  to  all  their  former 
principles  and  wishes,  and  pass  a quite  different 
judgment  upon  their  sinful  delights  from  what  they 
were  wont  to  do  in  the  days  of  this  life  of  vanity. 
Learn,  oh  my  soul,  to  judge  of  things  more  agreeably 
to  the  appearances  of  that  day:  never  canst  thou  set 
the  flattering  pleasures  of  sense,  and  the  joys  of  sin 
in  a truer  and  juster  view  than  in  the  light  of  this 
glorious  and  tremendous  judgment. 

Reflection  3.  How  great  and  dreadful  must  the 
distress  of  creatures  be  when  they  cannot  bear  to  see 
the  face  of  God  their  Creator!  How  terrible  must 
be  the  circumstances  of  the  sons  of  men,  when  they 
cannot  endure  to  see  the  face  of  the  Son  of  God,  but 
would  fain  hide  themselves  from  the  sight  under 
rocks  and  mountains ! How  wretched  must  their  state 
be  who  avoid  the  face  of  the  blessed  God  with  hor- 
ror; which  the  holy  angels  ever  behold  with  the  most 
intense  delight,  and  which  the  saints  rejoice  in  as 
their  highest  happiness!  It  is  their  heaven  to  see  God 
and  behold  the  glory  of  his  Son  Jesus.  Matt.  v.  8. 
John  xvii.  But  this  is  the  very  hell  of  sinners  in  that 
dismal  hour,  and  will  fill  their  souls  with  such  inex- 
pressible anguish,  that  they  call  to  the  rocks  and 
mountains  to  hide  them  from  the  sight.  Dreadful 
and  deplorable  is  their  case  indeed,  who  cannot  en- 
dure to  see  the  countenance  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God, 
Jesus  the  Saviour  of  men,  the  copy  of  the  Father’s 
glory,  and  the  image  of  his  beauty  and  love.  They 
cannot  bear  to  see  that  Jesus  who  is  the  chiefest  of  ten 
thousands,  and  altogether  lovely;  they  fly  from  that 
blessed  countenance  which  is  the  ornament  and  the 
joy  of  all  the  holy  and  happy  creation  ; that  blessed 
countenance  is  become  the  terror  and  confusion  of 
impenitent  and  guilty  rebels. 

And  what  shall  I do,  if  I should  be  found  amongst 
this  criminal  number  in  that  great  day  ? If  I look  at 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


139 


the  wisdom  and  the  righteousness  of  God,  these  will 
reflect  the  keenest  rays  of  horror  and  anguish  upon 
my  soul ; for  it  is  that  wisdom  and  that  righteousness 
that  have  joined  to  prepare  the  salvation  which  I 
have  rejected,  and  therefore  now  that  wise  and 
righteous  God  seeth  it  proper  and  necessary  to  punish 
me  with  everlasting  sorrows.  If  I look  at  the  power 
of  God,  it  is  a dreadful  sight : eternal  and  almighty 
power,  that  can  break  through  rocks  and  mountains 
to  inflict  vengeance  upon  the  guilty,  and  stands  en- 
gaged by  his  honour  to  break  my  rebellious  spirit 
with  unknown  torments.  If  I look  at  his  goodness 
or  his  love,  it  is  love  and  goodness  that  I have  de- 
spised and  abused,  and  it  is  now  changed  into  divine 
fury.  If  I look  at  the  face  of  Jesus,  and  find  there 
the  correspondent  features  of  his  Father,  I shall  then 
hate  to  see  it — for  this  very  reason,  because  it  bears 
his  Father’s  image  who  is  terrible  to  my  thoughts. 
I shall  neither  be  able  to  bear  the  sight  of  God  or  of  his 
fairest  copy,  that  is,  Jesus  his  Son,  because  I am  so 
shamefully  unlike  them  both,  and  besides,  I have  af- 
fronted their  majesty  and  despised  their  mercy. 

How  painful  and  smarting  will  be  the  reflection 
of  my  heart  in  that  day,  when  I shall  remember  that 
Jesus  called  out  to  me  from  heaven  by  the  messen- 
gers of  his  grace,  and  said,  “Behold  me,  behold  me, 
look  unto  me  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  be 
saved : ” but  now  he  is  armed  with  a commission  of 
vengeance,  and  he  strikes  terror  and  exquisite  pain 
into  my  soul  with  every  frown,  so  that  I shall  wish 
to  be  for  ever  hid  from  the  face  of  the  Lamb;  for  the 
great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be 
able  to  endure  this  wrath,  to  stand  before  his  thun- 
der, or  bear  the  lightning  of  this  day?  Alas,  how 
miserable  must  I be  by  an  everlasting  necessity,  if  I 
cannot  bear  the  countenance  of  God  and  Christ, 
which  is  the  spring  of  unchangeable  happiness  to  all 
the  saints  and  the  blessed  angels?  Oh  may  I time- 


140  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

ly  secure  the  love  of  my  God,  and  gain  an  interest 
in  the  favour  and  salvation  of  the  blessed  Jesus ! 
Here,  O Lord,  at  thy  feet  I lay  down  all  the  weapons 
of  my  former  rebellions;  I implore  thy  love  through 
the  interest  of  thy  Son  the  great  Mediator:  let  me 
see  the  light  of  thy  countenance  and  the  smiles  of 
thy  face  : let  me  see  a reconciled  God,  and  let  him 
tell  me  that  my  sins  are  all  forgiven;  then  shall  I not 
be  afraid  to  meet  the  countenance  of  him  that  sits 
upon  the  throne  or  the  Lamb,  when  Christ  shall  re- 
turn from  heaven  to  punish  the  impenitent  rebels 
against  divine  grace. 

Reflection  4.  How  hopeless  as  well  as  distressed  is 
the  case  of  sinners  in  that  day,  when  they  are  driven 
to  this  last  extremity,  to  seek  help  from  the  rocks 
and  the  mountains?  It  is  the  last,  but  the  fruitless 
refuge  of  a frighted  and  perishing  creature:  the  rocks 
and  mountains  refuse  to  help  them ; they  will  not 
crush  to  death  those  wretches  whom  the  justice  of 
God  has  doomed  to  a painful  immortality,  nor  will 
they  conceal  or  shelter  those  obstinate  rebels  whom 
the  Son  of  God  has  raised  out  of  their  graves  to  be 
exposed  to  public  shame  and  punishment.  Those 
high  and  hollow  rocks,  those  dismal  dens  and  caverns 
dark  as  midnight,  those  deep  and  gloomy  retreats  of 
melancholy  and  sorrow,  which  they  shunned  with  ut- 
most aversion,  and  could  hardly  bear  to  think  of  them 
without  horror  here  on  earth,  are  now  become  their 
only  retreat  and  shelter;  but  it  is  a very  vain  and 
hopeless  one. 

When  I see  such  awful  appearances  in  nature, 
huge  and  lofty  rocks  hanging  over  my  head,  and  at 
every  step  of  my  approach  they  seem  to  nod  upon 
me  with  overwhelming  ruin,  when  my  curiosity 
searches  far  into  their  hollow  clefts,  their  dark  and 
deep  caverns  of  solitude  and  desolation,  methinks 
while  I stand  amongst  them  I can  hardly  think  my- 
self in  safety,  and  at  best  they  give  a sort  of  solemn 


THE  VATN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


141 


and  dreadful  delight:  let  me  improve  the  scene 
to  religious  purposes,  and  raise  a divine  medita- 
tion. Ami  one  of  those  wretches  who  shall  call 
to  these  huge  impending  rocks  to  fall  upon  me? 
Am  I that  guilty  and  miserable  creature  who  shall 
entreat  these  mountains  to  cover  me  from  him 
that  sits  on  the  throne  and  the  Lamb?  Am  I 
prepared  to  meet  the  countenance  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  the  Judge  in  that  day?  Have  I such  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  such  a holy  faith  in 
his  mediation,  such  a sincere  love  to  him,  and 
such  an  unfeigned  repentance  of  all  my  sins, 
that  I can  look  upon  him  as  my  friend  and  my 
refuge,  and  a friend  infinitely  better  than  rocks 
and  mountains;  for  he  not  only  screens  me  from 
the  divine  anger,  but  introduces  me  into  the  Fa- 
ther’s love,  and  places  me  in  his  blissful  presence 
for  ever. 

Reflection  5.  What  hideous  and  everlasting 
mischief  is  contained  in  the  nature  of  sin,  especially 
sin  against  the  gospel  of  Christ,  against  the  methods 
of  grace  and  the  offers  of  salvation,  which  exposes 
creatures  to  such  extreme  distress!  The  fairest  and 
most  flattering  iniquity,  what  beautiful  colours  soever 
it  may  put  on  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  yet  it  carries 
all  this  hidden  mischief  and  terror  in  the  bosom  of 
it,  for  it  frights  the  creature  from  the  sight  of  his 
Creator,  and  his  Saviour,  and  makes  him  fly  to  every 
vain  refuge.  Adam  and  Eve,  the  parents  of  our 
race,  when  they  lost  their  innocence  and  became 
criminals,  fled  from  the  presence  of  God  whom  they 
conversed  with  before  in  holy  friendship,  Gen.  iii. 
8:  “They  hid  themselves  among  the  trees  of  Pa- 
radise,” and  the  thickest  shadows  of  the  garden; 
but  the  eye  and  the  voice  of  God  reached  them  there : 
the  curse  found  them  out,  though  that  was  a curse 
allayed  with  the  promised  blessing  of  a Saviour. 


142  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

Guilt,  will  work  in  the  conscience,  and  tell  us,  that 
God  is  angry,  and  the  next  thought  is,  where  shall  I 
hide  myself  from  an  angry  God?  but  when  the 
mercy  of  God  has  taught  us  where  we  may  hide  our- 
selves, even  under  the  shadow’  of  the  cross  of  his  Son, 
and  we  refuse  to  make  him  our  refuge,  there  remains 
nothing  but  a final  horror  of  soul,  and  a hopeless 
address  to  rocks  and  mountains  to  hide  us  from  an 
offended  God  and  a provoked  Saviour. 

Whensoever,  oh  my  soul,  thou  shalt  find  or  feel 
some  flattering  iniquity  alluring  thy  senses,  making 
court  to  thy  heart,  and  ready  to  gain  upon  thy  in- 
ward wishes,  remember  the  distress  and  terror  of 
heart  that  sinners  must  undergo  in  the  great  and 
terrible  day  of  the  Lord.  Think  of  the  rocks  and 
mountains  which  they  vainly  call  upon  to  befriend 
them,  to  shield  them  from  the  vengeance  of  that 
Almighty  arm  which  is  provoked  by  sin  to  make 
his  creatures  miserable.  Remember,  O my  soul, 
and  fear;  remember  and  resist  the  vile  temptation, 
and  stand  afar  off  from  that  practice  which  will 
make  thee  afraid  to  see  the  face  of  God. 

Reflection  6.  Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it 
then  to  sinners  to  gain  an  humble  acquaintance  and 
friendship  with  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes  away 
the  sins  of  the  world,  that  we  may  be  able  with  com- 
fort to  behold  the  face  of  him  that  sits  on  the  throne 
in  that  day.  Which  of  us  can  say,  I am  not  a sinner ; 
I am  not  guilty  before  God?  and  which  of  us  then 
has  the  courage  and  hardness  to  declare,  I have  no 
need  of  a Saviour?  And  is  there  any  one  amongst 
us  who  hath  not  yet  fled  for  refuge  to  Jesus  our  only 
and  sufficient  hope?  There  is  a protection  provided 
against  a provoked  God,  but  there  is  none  against 
a neglected  and  abused  Saviour:  I mean,  where  this 
neglect  and  abuse  is  final  and  unrepented.  Oh, 
how  solicitous  should  every  soul  be  in  a matter  of  this 
divine  moment,  this  everlasting  importance!  What 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


143 


words  of  compassion  shall  we  use,  what  words  of 
awakening  terror,  to  put  sinners  in  mind  of  their  ex- 
treme danger,  if  they  neglect  the  only  security  which 
the  gospel  has  appointed?  What  language  of  fear 
and  importunity  shall  we  make  use  of,  to  hasten  you, 
oh  sinners,  to  the  acquaintance,  the  faith  and  the 
love  of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  that  you  may  behold  his 
face  and  the  face  of  the  Father  with  serenity  and  joy 
in  the  last  day?  Give  yourselves  up  to  him  then 
without  further  delay,  as  your  teacher,  your  high 
priest,  your  reconciler,  your  Lord  and  King.  His 
blessed  offices  are  the  only  chambers  of  protection 
when  God  shall  arise  to  burn  the  world  and  to  avenge 
himself  on  his  enemies  that  will  not  be  reconciled. 

Reflection  7.  Let  us  take  occasion  from  my  text 
also  to  meditate  on  the  happy  circumstances  of  true 
Christians  in  that  day  of  terror:  behold  the  Judge 
appears,  he  cometh  in  the  clouds  surrounded  with 
armies  of  avenging  angels,  the  ministers  of  his  indig- 
nation; he  rideth  on  a chariot  of  flaming  fire:  the 
earth  with  all  its  mountains  melt  like  wax  at  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  the  fields  and  the  forest  become 
one  spacious  blaze,  the  sea  grows  dry  and  forsakes  its 
shores,  and  rivers  flee  away  at  his  lightning;  the 
rocks  are  broken  and  shivered  at  the  appearance  of 
his  majesty,  the  tombs  are  thrown  open,  and  with 
terrible  dismay  shall  the  graves  give  up  their  dead; 
the  pyramids  of  brick  and  stone  moulder  and  sink  into 
dust,  the  sepulchres  of  brass  and  marble  yield  up 
their  royal  prisoners,  and  all  the  captives  of  death 
awake  and  start  into  life  at  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God.  Amidst  all  these  scenes  of  surprise  and  horror, 
with  how  serene  a countenance  and  how  peaceful  a 
soul  do  the  saints  awake  from  their  bodies  of  earth! 
Cal  m and  serene  among  all  these  confusions,  they  arise 
from  their  long  slumber,  and  go  to  meet  their  re- 
turning Saviour  and  their  friend.  They  have  seen 
him  in  the  glass  of  his  gospel,  submitted  to  his  laws, 


144 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 


and  rejoiced  in  his  grace,  and  they  now  delight  to 
see  hirn  face  to  face  in  his  glory.  They  have  seen 
him  vested  with  his  commission  of  mercy,  they  have 
heard  and  received  his  message  of  goodness  and  love, 
and  they  cannot  but  rejoice  to  see  him  coming  to 
fulfil  his  last  promises.  They  have  cheerfully  sub- 
jected themselves  to  his  government  here  on  earth, 
they  have  followed  him  in  paths  of  holiness  through 
the  wilderness  of  this  world,  and  what  remains  but 
that  they  be  publicly  acknowledged  by  Jesus  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  follow  him  up  to  the  place  of 
blessedness  which  he  hath  prepared  for  them. 

Perhaps  some  of  these  holy  ones,  in  the  days  of 
the  flesh,  were  banished  from  the  cities  and  the  so- 
cieties of  men  for  the  sake  of  Christ;  they  were  driven 
out  from  their  native  towns,  and  forced  to  seek  a 
shelter  in  solitary  dens  and  caves,  among  rocks  and 
mountains,  “to  wander  through  deserts  in  sheep- 
skins and  goat-skins,  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented.” 
Heb.  xi.  31.  They  made  the  clefts  of  the  rocks  and 
caverns  of  the  earth  their  refuge  from  the  face  of 
their  cruel  persecutors;  the  mountains  and  rocks 
sheltered  them  from  the  wrath  of  princes,  and  the 
dark  grottos  of  the  earth,  and  the  dens  of  wild  beasts 
concealed  them  from  the  rage  of  men,  from  the 
sword  of  the  mighty;  but  now  the  scene  is  gloriously 
changed,  the  martyrs  and  holy  confessors  awaking 
from  their  graves,  exult  and  triumph  in  the  smiles  of 
their  Judge,  and  receive  public  honours  before  the 
whole  creation  of  God.  They  behold  the  infinite 
consternation  of  haughty  tyrants,  and  persecuting 
princes,  of  proud  generals  and  bloody  captains  in  that 
day : they  hear  them  “ call  to  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  hide  them  from  the  face  of  him  that  sits  upon  the 
throne  and  the  Lamb.”  The  authority  and  regal 
honour  of  the  emperors  of  the  earth  hath  long  slept 
in  the  dust,  but  it  is  lost  there  for  ever;  their  glory 
shall  not  awake  nor  arise  with  them:  behold  the 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  145 

mighty  sinners  who  have  been  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
or  negligent  of  his  salvation,  how  they  creep  af- 
frighted out  of  their  shattered  marbles,  and  leave  all 
that  pomp  and  pride  of  death  in  ruins,  to  appear 
before  God  with  shame  and  everlasting  contempt. 
The  men  of  arms,  the  captains  and  sons  of  valour, 
whose  swords  lay  under  their  heads  with  their  tro- 
phies and  titles  spread  around  them,  shall  raise  their 
heads  up  from  the  dust  with  utmost  affright  and  an- 
guish of  spirit:  their  courage  fails  them  before  the 
face  of  Jesus  the  Lord  and  Judge  of  the  whole  crea- 
tion. They  would  fly  to  the  common  refuge  of 
slaves,  they  shrink  into  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  and 
call  to  the  mountains  to  screen  and  protect  them : 
and  every  bond-man,  and  every  free-man  who  have 
not  known  nor  loved  God  and  Christ,  are  plunged 
into  extremest  distress;  but  the  humble  Christian  is 
serene  and  joyful,  and  lifts  up  his  head  with  courage 
and  delight  in  the  midst  of  these  scenes  of  astonish- 
ment and  dismay. 

He  is  come,  he  is  come,  saith  the  saint,  even 
that  Lord  Jesus  whom  I have  seen,  whom  I have 
known  and  loved  in  the  days  of  my  mortal  life,  whom 
I have  long  waited  for  in  the  dust  of  death;  he  is 
come  to  reward  all  my  labours,  to  wipe  away  all  my 
sorrows,  to  finish  my  faith  and  turn  it  into  sight,  to 
fulfil  all  my  hopes  and  his  own  promises;  he  is  come 
to  deliver  me  for  ever  from  all  my  enemies,  and  to 
bear  me  to  the  place  which  he  has  prepared  for  those 
that  love  him  and  long  for  his  appearance. 

O blessed  be  the  God  of  grace,  who  hath  con- 
vinced me  of  the  sins  of  my  nature,  and  the  sins  of 
my  life  in  the  days  of  my  flesh;  who  hath  discovered 
to  me  the  danger  of  a guilty  and  sinful  state,  hath 
shown  me  the  commission  of  mercy  in  the  hands  of 
his  Son,  hath  pointed  me  to  the  Lamb  of  God  who 
was  offered  as  a sacrifice  to  take  away  the  sins  of 
men,  and  hath  inclined  me  to  receive  him  in  all  his 
14 


146  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS, 

divine  characters  and  offices,  and  to  follow  the  Captain 
of  my  salvation  through  all  the  labours  and  dangers 
of  life.  I have  trusted  him,  I have  loved  him,  I have 
endeavoured,  though  under  many  frailties,  to  honour 
and  obey  him,  and  I can  now  behold  his  face  without 
terror;  while  the  mighty  men  of  the  earth  tremble 
with  amazement  and  call  to  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  hide  them  from  his  face,  I rejoice  to  see  him  in  his 
robes  of  judgment,  for  he  is  come  to  pronounce  me 
righteous  in  the  face  of  men  and  angels,  to  declare 
me  a good  and  faithful  servant  before  the  whole  crea- 
tion, to  set  the  crown  of  victory  on  my  head,  to  take 
me  to  heaven  with  him,  that  “where he  is,  I may  be 
also,  to  behold  his  glory/’  and  to  partake  for  ever  of 
the  blessings  of  his  love.  Amen. 


DISCOURSE  VII. 


NO  NIG  HI'  IN  HEAVEN. 


Ret.  xxn.  25. 

And  there  shall  be  no  night  there. 

Length  of  night  and  overspreading  darkness  in 
the  winter  season,  carries  so  many  inconveniences 
with  it,  that  it  is  generally  esteemed  a most  uncom- 
fortable part  of  our  time.  Though  night  and  day 
necessarily  succeed  each  other  all  the  year,  by  the 
wise  appointment  of  God  in  the  course  of  nature,  by 
means  of  the  revolution  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  or 
rather  of  this  earthly  globe,  yet  the  night  season  is 
neither  so  delightful  nor  so  useful  a part  of  life  as  the 
duration  of  day-light.  It  is  the  voice  of  all  nature 
as  well  as  the  word  of  Solomon,  Light  is  sweet,  and 
a pleasant  thing  to  enjoy  the  sun-beams.  Light 
gives  a glory  and  beauty  to  every  thing  that  is  vi- 
sible, and  shows  the  face  of  nature  in  its  most 
agreeable  colours;  but  night,  as  it  covers  all  the 
visible  world  with  one  dark  and  undistinguishing 
veil,  is  less  pleasing  to  all  the  animal  parts  of  the 
creation.  Therefore,  as  hell  and  the  place  of  pu- 


148 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


nishment  is  called  utter  darkness  in  scripture,  sc 
heaven  is  represented  as  a mansion  of  glory,  as  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light;  and  this  light  is 
constant  without  interruption,  and  everlasting,  or 
without  end.  So  my  text  expresses  it:  “there  shall 
be  no  night  there.” 

Let  it  be  observed,  that  in  the  language  of  the 
holy  writers,  light  is  often  ascribed  to  intellectual 
beings,  and  is  used  as  a metaphor  to  imply  know- 
ledge and  holiness,  and  joy.  Knowledge  as  the 
beauty  and  excellency  of  the  mind,  holiness  as  the 
best  regulation  of  the  will,  and  joy  as  the  harmony 
of  our  best  affections  in  the  possession  of  what  we 
love;  and  in  opposition  to  these,  ignorance,  iniquity 
and  sorrow,  are  represented  by  the  metaphor  of 
darkness.  Then  we  are  in  darkness  in  a spiritual 
sense,  when  the  understanding  is  beclouded  or  Jed 
into  mistake,  or  when  the  will  is  perverted  or  turned 
away  from  God  and  holiness,  or  when  the  most 
uncomfortable  affections  prevail  in  the  soul.  I 
might  cite  particular  texts  of  scripture  to  exemplify 
all  this.  And  when  it  is  said,  there  shall  be  no  night 
in  heaven,  it  may  be  very  well  applied  in  the  spiri- 
tual sense;  there  shall  be  no  errors  or  mistakes 
amongst  the  blessed,  no  such  ignorance  as  to  lead 
them  astray,  or  to  make  them  uneasy:  the  will  shall 
never  be  turned  aside  from  its  pursuit  of  holiness 
and  obedience  to  God;  nor  shall  the  affections  ever 
be  ruffled  with  any  thing  that  may  administer  grief 
and  pain.  Clear  and  unerring  knowledge,  unspotted 
holiness,  and  everlasting  joy,  shall  be  the  portion  of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  upper  world.  These  are 
common  mere  subjects  of  discourse. 

But  I choose  rather  at  present  to  consider  this  word 
night  in  its  literal  sense,  and  shall  endeavour  to 
represent  part  of  the  blessedness  of  the  heavenly 
state  under  the  special  description  of  it.  “There  is 
no  night  there.” 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


149 


Now,  in  order  to  pursue  this  design,  let  us  take  a 
brief  survey  of  the  several  evils  or  inconveniences 
which  attend  the  night  or  the  season  of  darkness  here 
on  earth,  and  show  how  far  the  heavenly  world  is 
removed  and  free  from  all  manner  of  inconvenience 
of  this  kind. 

1.  Though  night  be  the  season  of  sleep  for  the 
relief  of  nature,  and  for  our  refreshment  after  the  la- 
bours of  the  day,  yet  it  is  a certain  sign  of  the  weak- 
ness  and  weariness  of  nature,  when  it  wants  such  re- 
freshments, and  such  dark  seasons  of  relief.  But  there 
is  no  night  in  heaven.  Say,  O ye  inhabitants  of  that 
vital  world,  are  ye  ever  weary?  Do  your  natures 
know  any  such  weakness?  Or  are  your  holy  labours 
of  such  a kind  as  to  expose  you  to  fatigue,  or  to  tire 
your  spirits?  The  blessed  above  mount  up  towards 
God,  as  on  eagles’  wings,  they  run  at  the  command  of 
God  and  are  not  weary,  they  walk  on  the  hills  of  Pa- 
radise and  never  faint,  as  the  prophet  Isaiah  expresses, 
a vigorous  and  pleasurable  state.  Chap.  xl.  31. 

There  are  no  such  animal  bodies  in  heaven,  whose 
natural  springs  of  action  can  be  exhausted  or  weak- 
ened by  the  business  of  the  day : there  is  no  flesh  and 
blood  there  to  complain  of  weariness,  and  to  want 
rest.  O blessed  state,  where  our  faculties  shall  be 
so  happily  suited  to  our  work,  that  we  shall  never 
feel  ourselves  weary  of  it,  nor  fatigued  by  it. 

And  as  there  is  no  weariness,  so  there  is  no  sleep- 
ing there.  Sleep  was  not  made  for  the  heavenly 
state.  Can  the  spirits  of  the  just  ever  sleep  under 
the  full  blaze  of  divine  glory,  under  the  incessant 
communications  of  divine  love,  under  the  perpetual 
influences  of  the  grace  of  God  the  Father,  and  of 
Jesus  the  Saviour,  and  amidst  the  inviting  confluence 
of  every  spring  of  blessedness? 

2.  Another  inconvenience  of  night  near  akin  to 
the  former  is,  that  business  is  interrupted  by  it, 
partly  for  want  of  light  to  perform  it,  as  well  as  for 

14* 


150 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


want,  of  strength  and  spirits  to  pursue  it.  This  is 
constantly  visible  in  the  successions  of  labour  and 
repose  here  on  earth;  and  the  darkness  of  the 
night  is  appointed  to  interrupt  the  course  of  labour 
and  the  business  of  the  day,  that  nature  may  be 
recruited.  But  the  business  of  heaven  is  never  in- 
terrupted; there  is  everlasting  light  and  everlasting 
strength.  Say,  ye  blessed  spirits  on  high,  who  join 
in  the  services  which  are  performed  for  God  and 
the  Lamb  there,  ye  who  unite  all  your  powers 
in  the  worship  and  homage  that  is  paid  to  the 
Father  and  to  the  Son,  ye  that  mingle  in  all 
the  joyful  conversation  of  that  divine  and  holy  as- 
sembly, say,  is  there  found  any  useless  hour  there? 
Do  your  devotions,  your  duties  and  your  joys  ever 
suffer  such  an  entire  interruption  of  rest  and  silence, 
as  the  season  of  darkness  on  earth  necessarily  creates 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  our  world? 

The  living  creatures*  which  are  represented  by 
John  the  apostle  in  Rev.  iv.,  whether  they  signify 
saints  or  angels,  yet  they  were  full  of  eyes  that  never 
slumber;  they  rest  not  day  nor  night:  this  is  spoken 
in  the  language  of  mortals,  to  signify,  that  they  are 
never  interrupted  by  any  change  of  seasons  or  inter- 
vening darkness  in  the  honours  they  pay  to  God : 
they  are  described  as  ever  saying,  “Holy,  holy,  holy, 
Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was,  and  is,  and  is  to 
come.”  And  the  same  sort  of  expression  is  used 
concerning  the  saints  in  heaven.  Rev.  vii.  15:  “They 
who  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed 
their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  they  are  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve 
him  day  and  night  in  his  temple,”  that  is,  they  con- 
stantly serve  and  worship  him  in  his  holy  temple  in 
heaven.  Perhaps  the  different  orders  and  ranks  of 

* The  word  Z00,  which  is  translated  beasts,  signifies  only  ani- 
mals or  living  creatures,  and  does  not  carry  with  it  so  mean  and 
so  disagreeable  an  idea  as  the  word  beasts  in  English. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


151 


them  in  a continual  succession,  are  ever  doing  some 
honours  to  God.  As  there  is  no  night  there,  so  there 
is  no  cessation  of  their  services,  their  worship  and 
their  holy  exercises,  in  one  form  or  another,  through- 
out the  duration  of  their  being. 

Our  pleasures  here  on  earth  are  short-lived:  if 
they  are  intense,  nature  cannot  bear  them  long,  any 
more  than  constant  business  and  labour:  and  if  our 
labours  and  our  pleasures  should  happily  join  and 
mingle  here  on  earth,  which  is  not  always  the  case, 
yet  night  compels  us  to  break  off  the  pleasing  labour, 
and  we  must  rest  from  the  most  delightful  business. 
Happy  is  that,  region  on  high,  where  business  and 
pleasure  are  for  ever  the  same  among  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  it,  and  there  is  no  pause  or  entire  cessation 
of  the  one  or  the  other.  Tell  me,  ye  warm  and  lively 
Christians,  when  your  hearts  are  sweetly  and  joyfully 
engaged  in  the  worship  of  God,  in  holy  conversation, 
or  in  any  pious  services  here  on  earth,  how  often 
you  have  been  forced  to  break  off  these  celestial  en- 
tertainments by  the  returning  night?  But  in  the 
heavenly  state  there  is  everlasting  active  service 
with  everlasting  delight  and  satisfaction. 

In  that  blessed  world  there  can  be  no  idleness,  no 
inactivity,  no  trifling  intervals  to  pass  away  time, 
no  vacant  or  empty  spaces  in  eternal  life.  Who  can 
be  idle  under  the  immediate  eye  of  God?  Who  can 
trifle  in  the  presence  of  Christ?  Who  can  neglect 
the  pleasurable  work  of  heaven  under  the  sweet 
influences  of  the  present  Deity,  and  under  the  smiles 
of  his  countenance,  who  approves  all  their  work  and 
worship  ? 

3.  As  in  our  present  world  the  hours  of  night  are 
unactive  if  we  sleep,  so  they  seem  long  and  tedious 
when  our  eyes  are  wakeful  and  sleep  flies  from  us. 
Perhaps  we  hear  the  clo^k  strike  one  hour  after 
another,  with  wearisome  longings  for  the  next 


152 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


succeeding  hour:  we  wish  the  dark  season  at  an 
end,  and  we  long  for  the  approach  of  morning ; we 
grow  impatient  for  the  dawning  of  the  day.  But  in 
heaven,  ye  spirits  who  have  dwelt  longest  there,  can 
ye  remember  one  tiresome  or  tedious  hour,  through 
all  the  years  of  your  residence  in  that  country  ? Is 
there  not  eternal  wakefulness  among  all  the  blessed? 
Can  any  of  you  ever  indulge  a slumber?  Can  you 
sleep  in  heaven?  Can  you  want  it,  or  wish  for  it? 
No,  for  that  world  is  all  vital  and  sprightly  for  ever. 
When  we  leave  this  flesh  and  blood,  farewell  to  all 
the  tedious  measures  of  time,  farewell  tiresome  dark- 
ness; our  whole  remaining  duration  is  life  and  light, 
vital  activity,  and  vigour,  attended  with  everlasting 
holiness  and  joy. 

4.  While  we  are  here  on  earth  the  darkness  of 
the  night  often  exposes  us  to  the  danger  of  losing 
our  way,  of  wandering  into  confusion,  or  falling 
into  mischief.  When  the  sunbeams  have  with- 
drawn their  light,  and  midnight  clouds  overspread 
the  heaven,  we  cannot  see  our  path  before  us,  we 
cannot  pursue  our  proper  course  nor  secure  our- 
selves from  stumbling.  How  many  travellers  have 
been  betrayed  by  the  thick  shadows  of  the  night 
into  mistaken  ways  or  pathless  deserts,  into  endless 
mazes  among  thorns  and  briers,  into  bogs  and  pits 
and  precipices,  into  sudden  destruction  and  death? 
But  there  are  no  dangers  of  this  kind  in  the  hea- 
venly world;  all  the  regions  of  Paradise  are  for 
ever  illuminated  by  the  glory  of  God:  the  light  of 
his  countenance  shines  upon  every  step  that  we 
shall  take,  and  brightens  all  our  way.  We  shall 
walk  in  the  light  of  God,  and  under  the  blessed 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  we  are 
secured  for  ever  against  wandering;  and  against 
every  danger  of  tripping  or  falling  in  our  course. 
Our  feet  may  stumble  on  the  dark  mountains  here 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


153 


below,  but  there  is  no  stumbling-block  on  the  hills 
of  Paradise,  nor  can  we  go  astray  from  our  God,  or 
from  our  duty.  The  paths  of  that  country  are  all 
pleasure,  and  ever-living  day-light  shines  upon  them 
without  end.  Happy  beings  who  dwell  or  travel 
there! 

5.  In  the  night  we  are  exposed  here  on  earth 
to  the  violence  and  plunder  of  wicked  men,  whether 
we  are  abroad  or  at  home.  There  is  scarcely  any 
safety  now-a-days  to  those  who  travel  in  the  night, 
and  even  in  our  own  habitations  there  is  frequent 
fear  and  surprise.  At  that  season  the  sons  of  mis- 
chief dig  through  houses  in  the  dark  which  they 
had  marked  for  themselves  in  the  day-time : they 
lurk  in  corners  to  seize  the  innocent  and  to  rob  him 
of  his  possessions.  But  in  the  heavenly  world  there 
is  no  dark  hour;  there  is  nothing  that  can  encourage 
such  mischievous  designs;  nor  are  any  of  the  sons 
of  violence  or  the  malicious  powers  of  darkness  suf- 
fered to  have  an  abode  or  refuge  in  that  country. 
No  surprise  nor  fear  belongs  to  the  inhabitants  of 
those  regions.  Happy  souls,  who  spend  all  their  life 
in  the  light  of  the  countenance  of  God,  and  are  for 
ever  secure  from  the  plots  and  mischievous  devices 
of  the  wicked ! 

While  we  dwell  here  below  amongst  the  changing 
seasons  of  light  and  darkness,  what  daily  care  is  taken 
to  shut  the  doors  of  our  dwellings  against  the  men 
of  mischief?  What  solicitude  in  a time  of  war  to 
keep  the  gates  of  our  towns  and  cities  well  secured 
against  all  invasion  of  enemies?  Every  man  with 
his  sword  upon  his  thigh,  because  of  fear  in  the  night. 
But  in  that  blessed  world  there  is  no  need  of  such 
defences;  no  such  guardian  cares  to  secure  the  in- 
habitants. “The  gates  of  that  city  shall  not  be  shut  by 
day,  and  there  is  no  night  there.”  There  shines 
perpetual  day-light,  and  the  gates  are  ever  open  to 
receive  new-comers  from  our  world,  or  for  the  con- 


154 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


veyance  of  orders  and  messages  to  and  fro  from  the 
throne,  through  all  the  dominions  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb.  Blessed  are  the  inhabitants  of  that  country, 
where  there  are  no  dangers  arising  from  any  of  the 
wicked  powers  of  darkness,  nor  any  dark  minute  to 
favour  their  plots  of  mischief. 

6.  The  time  of  night  and  darkness  is  the  time 
of  the  concealment  of  secret  sins.  Shameful  ini- 
quities are  then  practised  amongst  men,  because 
the  darkness  is  a cover  to  them:  “The  eye  of  the 
adulterer  watches  for  the  twilight,  saying,  No  eye 
shall  see  me,’*  Job.  xxiv.  15.  In  the  black  and 
dark  night  he  hopes  for  concealment  as  well  as  the 
thief  and  the  murderer,  “and  they  that  are  drunken, 
are  drunken  in  the  night.’*  1 Thess.  v.  7.  The 
hours  of  darkness  are  a temptation  to  these  iniqui- 
ties, and  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are  a veil  to 
cover  them  from  the  sight  of  men.  They  find  a 
screen  behind  the  curtains  of  the  night,  and  a refuge 
in  thick  darkness.  But  in  the  heavenly  world  there 
is  no  temptation  to  such  iniquities,  no  defilement 
can  gain  an  entrance  there,  nor  could  it  find  any 
veil  or  covering.  The  regions  of  light  and  peace 
and  holy  love  are  never  violated  with  such  scenes  of 
villany  and  guilt.  No  secret  sins  can  be  committed 
there,  nor  can  they  hope  for  any  screen  to  defend 
them  from  the  eye  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  whose  eyes 
are  like  a flame  of  fire.  The  light  of  God  shines 
round  every  creature  in  that  country,  and  there  is 
not  a saint  or  angel  there  that  desires  a covering  from 
the  sight  of  God,  nor  would  accept  of  a veil  or  screen 
to  interpose  between  him  and  the  lovely  glories  of 
divine  holiness  and  grace.  To  behold  God  and  to 
live  under  the  blessings  of  his  eye  is  their  everlast- 
ing and  chosen  joy.  O that  our  world  were  more 
like  it! 

7.  When  the  night  returns  upon  us  here  on  earth, 
the  pleasures  of  sight  vanish  and  are  lost.  Knowledge 


MO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


155 


is  shut  out  -at  one  entrance  in  a great  degree,  and 
one  of  our  senses  is  withheld  from  the  spreading 
beauties  and  glories  of  this  lower  creation,  almost  as 
though  we  were  deprived  of  it,  and  were  grown  blind 
for  a season. 

It  is  true,  the  God  of  nature  has  appointed  the 
moon  and  stars  to  relieve  the  darkness  at  some  sea- 
sons, that  when  the  sun  is  withdrawn,  half  the  world 
at  those  hours  may  not  be  in  confusion : and  by  the 
inventions  of  men  we  are  furnished  with  lamps  and 
candles  to  relieve  our  darkness  within  doors  : but  if 
we  stir  abroad  in  the  dark  night,  instead  of  the  va- 
rious and  delightful  scenes  of  the  creation  of  God  in 
the  skies  and  the  fields,  we  are  presented  with  a 
universal  blank  of  nature,  and  one  of  the  great  enter- 
tainments and  satisfactions  of  this  life  is  quite  taken 
away  from  us.  But  in  heaven  the  glories  of  that 
world  are  for  ever  in  view : the  beauteous  scenes  and 
prospects  of  the  hills  of  paradise  are  never  hidden : 
we  shall  there  continually  behold  a rich  variety  of 
things  which  eye  hath  not  seen  on  earth,  which  ear 
hath  not  heard,  and  which  the  heart  of  man  hath  not 
conceived.  Say,  ye  souls  in  paradise,  ye  inhabi- 
tants of  that  glorious  world,  is  there  any  loss  of  plea- 
sure by  your  absence  from  those  works  of  God  which 
are  visible  here  on  earth,  while  you  are  for  ever  en- 
tertained with  those  brighter  works  of  God  in  the 
upper  world?  While  every  corner  of  that  country 
is  enlightened  by  the  glory  of  God  himself,  and 
while  the  Son  of  God,  with  all  his  beams  of  grace 
shines  for  ever  upon  it. 

8.  It  is  another  unpleasing  circumstance  of  the 
night  season,  that  it  is  the  coldest  part  of  time. 
When  the  sun  is  sunk  below  the  earth,  and  its 
beams  are  hidden  from  us,  its  kindly  and  vital  heat, 
as  well  as  its  light,  are  removed  from  one  side  of 
the  globe;  and  this  gives  a sensible  uneasiness  in 


156 


NO  NTGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


the  hours  of  midnight  to  those  who  are  not  well 
provided  with  warm  accommodations. 

And  I might  add  also,  it  is  too  often  night  with 
us  in  a spiritual  sense,  while  we  dwell  here  on  earth ; 
our  hearts  are  cold  as  well  as  dark : how  seldom  do 
we  feel  that  fervency  of  spirit  in  religious  duties 
which  God  requires?  How  cool  is  our  love  to 
the  greatest  and  the  best  of  beings?  How  languid 
and  indifferent  are  our  affections  to  the  Son  of  God, 
the  chiefest  of  ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely  ? 
And  how  much  doth  the  devotion  of  our  souls  want 
its  proper  order  and  vivacity? 

But  when  the  soul  is  arrived  at  heaven,  we  shall 
be  all  warm  and  fervent  in  our  divine  and  delight- 
ful work.  As  there  shall  be  nothing  painful  to  the 
senses  in  that  blessed  climate,  so  there  shall  not  be 
one  cold  heart  there,  nor  so  much  as  one  lukewarm 
worshipper;  for  we  shall  live  under  the  immediate 
rays  of  God  who  formed  the  light,  and  under  the 
kindest  influences  of  Jesus  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness. We  shall  be  made  like  his  angels  who  are 
most  active  spirits,  and  his  “ministers,  who  are 
flames  of  fire.”  Psal.  civ.  4.  Nor  shall  any  dul- 
ness  or  indifference  hang  upon  our  sanctified  pow- 
ers and  passions:  they  shall  be  all  warm  and  vigo- 
rous in  their  exercise  amidst  the  holy  enjoyments  of 
that  country. 

In  the  ninth  and  last  place,  as  night  is  the  season 
appointed  for  sleep,  so  it  becomes  a constant  periodical 
emblem  of  death,  as  it  returns  every  evening.  Sleep 
and  midnight,  as  I have  shown  before,  are  no  seasons 
of  labour  or  activity,  nor  of  delight  in  the  visible  things 
of  this  world  : it  is  a dark  and  stupid  scene  wherein 
we  behold  nothing  with  truth,  though  we  are  some- 
times deceived  and  deluded  by  dreaming  visions  and 
vanities:  night  and  the  slumbers  of  it  are  a sort  of 
shorter  death  and  burial,  interposed  between  the 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


157 


several  daily  scenes  and  transactions  of  human  life. 
But  in  heaven,  as  there  is  no  sleeping,  there  is  no  dy- 
ing, nor  is  there  any  thing  there  that  looks  like  death. 
Sleep,  the  image  or  emblem  of  death,  is  for  ever 
banished  from  that  world.  All  is  vital  activity  there : 
every  power  is  immortal,  and  every  thing  that  dwells 
there  is  for  ever  alive.  There  can  be  no  death,  nor 
the  image  of  it,  where  the  ever-living  God  dwells  and 
shines  with  his  kindest  beams;  his  presence  main- 
tains perpetual  vitality  in  every  soul,  and  keeps  the 
new  creature  in  its  youth  and  vigour  for  ever.  The 
saints  shall  never  have  reason  to  mourn  over  their 
withering  graces,  languid  virtues,  or  dying  comforts ; 
nor  shall  they  complain  of  drowsy  faculties,  or  unac- 
tive powers,  where  God  and  the  Lamb  are  for  ever 
present  in  the  midst  of  them.  Shall  I invite  your 
thoughts  to  dwell  a little  upon  this  subject? 

Shall  we  make  a more  particular  inquiry,  whence 
it  comes  to  pass  that  there  is  no  night,  nor  darkness 
in  the  heavenly  city?  We  are  told  a little  before 
the  words  of  my  text,  that  “the  glory  of  God  en- 
lightens it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.  There 
is  no  need  of  the  sun  by  day,  or  the  moon  by  night 
there  is  no  need  of  any  such  change  of  seasons  as 
day  and  night  in  the  upper  regions,  nor  any  such 
alternate  enlighteners  of  a dark  world  as  God  has 
placed  in  our  firmament  or  in  this  visible  sky.  The 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light  is  sufficiently  irra- 
diated by  God  himself,  who  at  his  first  call  made  the 
light  spring  up  out  of  darkness  over  a wide  chaos  of 
confusion  before  the  sun  and  moon  appeared;  and 
the  beams  of  divine  light,  grace  and  glory  are  com- 
municated from  God  the  original  fountain  of  it,  by 
the  Lamb,  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  coun- 
try. It  was  by  Jesus  his  Son  that  God  made  the 
light  at  first,  and  by  him  he  conveys  it  to  all  the  hap- 
py worlds. 

15 


158 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


There  is  no  doubt  of  this  in  the  present  heaven  of 
saints  departed  from  flesh,  who  are  ascended  ‘‘to  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.”  It  is  one  of  their 
privileges  that  they  go  to  dwell,  not  only  where  they 
see  the  face  of  God,  but  where  they  behold  the  glory 
of  Christ  and  converse  with  “ Jesus  the  Mediator  of 
the  new  covenant,  and  are  for  ever  present  with  the 
Lord  who  redeemed  them.*’  Heb.  xii.  23,  24;  2 Cor. 
v.  8.  Since  his  mediatorial  kingdom  and  offices  are 
not  yet  finished  in  the  present  heaven  of  separate 
souls,  we  may  depend  on  this  blessedness  to  be  com- 
municated through  Christ  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  all 
the  spiritual  enjoyments  and  felicities  which  are  re- 
presented under  the  metaphor  of  light,  are  conveyed 
to  them  through  Jesus  the  Mediator. 

The  sun  in  the  natural  world  is  a bright  emblem 
of  divinity  or  the  Godhead,  for  it  is  the  spring  of  all 
light  and  heat  and  life  to  the  creation.  It  is  by  the 
influences  of  the  sun  that  herbs,  plants,  and  animals, 
are  produced  in  their  proper  seasons,  and  in  all  their 
various  beauties,  and  they  are  all  refreshed  and  sup- 
ported by  it.  Now  if  we  should  suppose  this  vast 
globe  of  fire  which  we  call  the  sun,  to  be  enclosed 
in  a huge  hollow  sphere  of  crystal,  which  should 
attempt  its  rays  like  a transparent  veil,  and  give 
milder  and  gentler  influences  to  the  burning  beams 
of  it,  and  yet  transmit  every  desirable  and  useful 
portion  of  light  or  heat,  this  would  be  a happy  em- 
blem of  the  man  “Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  dwells 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.”  It  is  the 
Lamb  of  God  who  in  a mild  and  gracious  manner 
conveys  the  blessings  originally  derived  from  God 
his  Father  to  all  the  saints.  We  partake  of  them  in 
our  measure  in  this  lower  world  among  his  churches 
here  on  earth;  but  it  is  with  a nobler  influence 
and  in  a more  sublime  degree  the  blessings  of 
Paradise  are  diffused  through  all  the  mansions  of 
glory,  by  this  illustrious  medium  of  conveyance, 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEA.VEN. 


159 


Jesus  the  Son  of  God : and  there  can  be  no  night 
nor  coldness,  death  nor  darkness  in  this  happy  state 
of  separate  souls. 

When  the  bodies  of  the  saints  shall  be  raised 
again,  and  reunited  to  their  proper  spirits,  when 
they  shall  ascend  to  the  place  of  their  final  heaven 
and  supreme  happiness,  we  know  not  what  manner 
of  bodies  they  shall  be,  what  sort  of  senses  they 
shall  be  furnished  with,  nor  how  many  powers  of 
conversing  with  the  corporeal  world  shall  be  be- 
stowed upon  them.  Whether  they  shall  have  such 
organs  of  sensation  as  eyes  and  ears,  and  stand  in 
need  of  such  light  as  we  derive  from  the  sun  or 
moon,  is  not  absolutely  certain.  The  scripture 
tells  us,  it  shall  not  be  a body  of  flesh  and  blood: 
these  are  not  materials  refined  enough  for  the 
heavenly  state;  “That  which  is  corruptible  cannot 
inherit  incorruption.”  1 Cor.  xv.  50.  But  this 
we  may  be  assured  of,  that  whatever  inlets  of 
knowledge,  whatever  avenues  of  pleasure,  whatever 
delightful  sensations  are  necessary  to  make  the 
inhabitants  of  that  world  happy,  they  shall  be  all 
united  in  that  spiritual  body  which  God  will  pre- 
pare for  the  new  raised  saints.  If  eyes  and  ears 
shall  belong  to  that  glorified  body,  those  sensitive 
powers  shall  be  nobly  enlarged,  and  made  more 
delightfully  susceptible  of  richer  shares  of  knowledge 
and  joy. 

Or  what  if  we  shall  have  that  body  furnished 
with  such  unknown  mediums  or  organs  of  sensa- 
tion as  shall  make  light  and  sound,  such  as  we  here 
partake  of,  unnecessary  to  us?  These  organs  shaU 
certainly  be  such  as  shall  transcend  all  the  advantages 
that  we  receive  in  this  present  state  from  sounds  or 
sunbeams.  There  shall  be  no  disconsolate  darkness, 
nor  any  tiresome  silence  there.  There  shall  be  no 
night  to  interrupt  the  business  or  the  pleasures  of 
that  everlasting  day. 


160 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


Or  what  if  the  whole  body  shall  be  endued  all 
over  with  the  senses  of  seeing  and  hearing?  What 
if  these  sort  of  sensations  shall  he  diffused  through- 
out all  that  immortal  body,  as  feeling  is  diffused 
through  all  our  present  mortal  flesh?  What  if 
God  himself  shall  in  a more  illustrious  manner  ir- 
radiate all  the  powers  of  the  body  and  spirit,  and 
communicate  the  light  of  knowledge,  holiness,  and 
joy  in  a superior  manner  to  what  we  can  now  con- 
ceive or  imagine?  This  is  certain,  that  darkness 
in  every  sense,  with  all  the  inconveniences  and 
unhappy  consequences  of  it,  is  and  must  be  for 
ever  banished  from  the  heavenly  state.  “There  is 
no  night  there. ” 

When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  have  given 
up  his  mediatorial  kingdom  to  the  Father,  and  have 
presented  all  his  saints  spotless  and  without  blemish 
before  his  throne,  it  is  hard  for  us  mortals  in  the 
present  state  to  say,  how  far  he  shall  be  the  everlast- 
ing medium  of  the  communication  of  divine  bless- 
ings  to  the  happy  inhabitants  on  high.  Yet  when 
we  consider  that  the  saints  and  angels  and  the 
whole  happy  creation  are  gathered  together  in 
him  as  their  head,*  it  is  certain  they  shall  all  be 
accounted  in  some  sense  his  members;  and  it  is 
highly  probable  he,  as  their  head,  shall  be  for  ever 
active  in  communicating  and  diffusing  the  unknown 
blessings  of  that  world  amongst  all  the  inhabitants 
of  it  who  are  gathered  and  united  in  him. 

I come  in  the  last  place  to  make  a few  remarks 
upon  the  foregoing  discourse,  and  in  order  to 
render  them  more  effectual  for  our  spiritual  ad- 
vantage, I shall  consider  the  words  of  my  text, 

* The  Greek  word  anakephalaioo,  used  in  Eph.  i.  10,  favours 
this  meaning,  and  perhaps  Col.  i.  20,  includes  the  same  thing. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


161 


“There  shall  be  no  night  there,”  in  their  meta- 
phorical or  spiritual  meaning,  as  well  as  in  their 
literal  sense.  There  is  no  night  of  ignorance  or 
error  in  the  mind,  no  night  of  guilt  or  of  sorrow 
in  the  soul;  but  the  blessed  above  shall  dwell 
surrounded  with  the  light  of  divine  knowledge : 
they  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  holiness,  and  they 
shall  be  for  ever  filled  with  the  light  of  consolation 
and  joy,  as  I have  explained  it  at  the  beginning  of 
this  discourse. 

The  first  remark  then  is  this:  When  heaven, 
earth,  and  hell  are  compared  together  with  relation 
to  light  and  darkness,  or  night  and  day,  we  then 
see  them  in  their  proper  distinctions  and  aspects. 
Every  thing  is  set  in  its  most  distinguishing  situa- 
tion and  appearance,  when  it  is  compared  with 
things  which  are  most  opposite. 

The  earth  on  which  we  dwell  during  this  state 
of  trial,  has  neither  all  day  nor  all  night  belonging 
to  it,  but  sometimes  light  appears  and  again  dark- 
ness, whether  in  a natural  or  a spiritual  sense. 

Though  there  be  long  seasons  of  darkness  in 
the  winter,  and  darkness  in  the  summer  also  in  its 
constant  returns  divides  one  day  from  another,  yet 
the  God  of  nature  has  given  us  a larger  portion 
of  light  than  there  is  of  darkness  throughout  the 
whole  globe  of  the  earth:  and  this  benefit  we 
receive  by  the  remaining  beams  of  the  sun  after  its 
setting,  and  by  the  assistance  of  the  moon  and 
the  stars  of  heaven.  Blessed  be  God  for  the  moon 
and  stars  as  well  as  for  the  sun-beams  and  the 
brightness  of  noon.  Blessed  be  God  for  all  the 
lights  of  nature,  but  we  still  bless  him  more  for 
the  light  of  the  gospel  and  for  any  rays  from 
heaven,  any  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
which  diffuse  in  low’er  measures  knowledge  and 
holiness  and  comfort  among  the  inhabitants  of  this 
our  world.  God  is  here  manifesting  his  love  and 

15* 


162 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


grace  in  such  proportions  as  he  thinks  proper. 
Some  beams  of  the  heavenly  world  break  out  upon 
us  here  in  this  dark  region.  God,  the  spring  of 
all  our  light,  and  the  Lamb  of  God  by  his  Spirit 
communicates  sufficient  light  to  us  to  guide  us  on 
in  our  way  to  that  heavenly  country. 

In  hell  there  is  all  night  and  darkness,  thick 
darkness  in  every  sense,  for  the  God  of  glory  is 
absent  there  as  to  any  manifestations  of  his  face 
and  favour.  And  therefore  it  is  often  called  “ outer 
darkness,  where  there  is  weeping  and  wailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.”  There  is  no  holiness,  there 
is  no  comfort,  there  are  no  benefits  of  the  creation, 
no  blessings  of  grace;  all  are  forfeited  and  gone 
for  ever.  It  is  everlasting  night  and  blackness 
of  darkness  in  that  world : horror  of  soul  without 
a beam  of  refreshment  from  the  face  of  God  or  the 
Lamb  for  ever.  The  devils  are  now  “ reserved 
in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  day.”  Jude  6.  But  then  their 
confinement  shall  be  closer,  and  their  darkness, 
guilt  and  sorrow  shall  be  more  overwhelming.  Is 
it  lawful  for  me  in  this  place  to  mention  the  de- 
scription which  Milton,  our  English  poet,  gives  of 
their  wretched  habitation? 

A dungeon  horrible  on  all  sides  round, 

As  one  great  furnace  flam’d,  yet  from  those  flames 
No  light,  but  rather  darkness  visible 
Serv’d  only  to  discover  sights  of  wo; 

Regions  of  sorrow,  doleful  shades,  where  peace 
And  rest  can  never  dwell ; hope  never  comes, 

That  comes  to  all:  but  torture  without  end 
Still  urges,  and  a fiery  deluge  fed 
With  ever-burning  sulphur  unconsum’d. 

Such  place  eternal  justice  had  prepared 
For  rebel-angels;  here  their  pris’n  ordain’d 
In  utter  darkness,  and  their  portion  set, 

As  far  remov’d  from  God  and  light  of  heav’n 
As  from  the  centre  thrice  to  th’  utmost  pole. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


163 


To  this  the  Poet  adds, 

O how  unlike  the  place  from  whence  they  fell! 

How  unlike  to  that  heaven  which  I have  been 
describing-,  in  which  there  is  no  night:  and  all  the 
evils  of  darkness  in  every  sense  are  for  ever  secluded 
from  that  happy  region,  where  knowledge,  holiness 
and  joy  are  all  inseparable  and  immortal. 

2d  Remark.  What  light  of  every  kind  we  are 
made  partakers  of  here  on  earth,  let  us  use  it  with 
holy  thankfulness,  with  zeal  and  religious  improve- 
ment. Hereby  we  may  be  assisted  and  animated  to 
travel  on  through  the  mingled  stages  and  scenes  of 
light  and  darkness  in  this  world,  till  we  arrive  at  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  perfect  light.  It  is  a 
glorious  blessing  to  this  dark  world,  that  the  light  of 
Christianity  is  added  to  the  light  of  Judaism  and  the 
light  of  nature;  and  that  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  are  set  before  us  in  this  nation 
in  their  distinct  views,  on  purpose  to  make  our  way 
to  happiness  more  evident  and  easy.  May  the  song 
of  Moses  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb  be  sung  in  our 
land!  But  let  us  never  rest  satisfied  till  the  light 
that  is  let  into  our  minds  becomes  a spring  of  divine 
life  within  us,  a life  of  knowledge,  holiness  and 
comfort.  Let  us  not  be  found  amongst  the  number 
of  those  who  when  light  is  come  into  the  world,  love 
darkness  rather  than  light,  lest  we  fall  under  their 
condemnation.  John  iii.  19.  Let  us  never  rest  till 
we  see  the  evidences  of  the  children  of  God  wrought 
in  us  with  power;  till  the  day-spring  that  has  visited 
us  from  on  high  has  entered  into  our  spirits,  and 
refined  and  moulded  them  into  the  divine  image; 
till  we  who  are  by  nature  all  darkness  are  made  light 
in  the  Lord. 

O what  a blessed  change  does  the  converting 

o o 

grace  of  Christ  make  in  the  soul  of  a son  or  daughter 


164 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


of  Adam?  It  is  like  the  beauty  and  pleasure  which 
the  rising  morning  diffuses  over  the  face  of  the  earth 
after  a night  of  storm  and  darkness:  it  is  so  much  of 
heaven  let  into  all  the  chambers  of  the  soul:  it  is 
then  only  that  we  begin  to  know  ourselves  aright, 
and  know  God  in  his  most  awful  and  most  lovely 
manifestations : it  is  in  this  light  we  see  the  hateful 
evil  of  every  sin,  the  beauty  of  holiness,  the  worth 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  of  his  salvation.  It  is  a 
light  that  carries  divine  heat  and  life  with  it;  it  re- 
news all  the  powers  of  the  spirit,  and  introduces  ho- 
liness, hope,  and  joy  in  the  room  of  folly  and  guilt, 
sin,  darkness  and  sorrow. 

3d  Remark.  If  God  has  wrought  this  sacred  and 
divine  change  in  our  souls,  if  we  are  made  the  chil- 
dren of  light,  or  if  we  profess  to  have  felt  this  change, 
and  hope  for  an  interest  in  this  bright  inheritance  of 
the  saints,  let  us  put  away  all  the  works  of  darkness 
with  hatred  and  detestation.  “Let  us  walk  in  the 
light  ” of  truth  and  holiness.  Eph.  v.  8:  “Ye  were 
once  darkness,  but  now  are  ye  light  in  the  Lord ; walk 
as  children  of  light.”  And  the  apostle  repeats  his 
exhortation  to  the  Thessalonians  in  1 Epist.  5th  chap- 
ter and  the  5th  verse:  “Ye  are  all  children  of  the 
light  and  of  the  day,”  and  not  the  sons  of  night  or  dark- 
ness, therefore  “ let  us  watch  and  be  sober;  putting  on 
the  breast-plate  of  faith  and  love,  and  for  a helmet  the 
hope  of  salvation;  for  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to 
wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

To  animate  every  Christian  to  this  holy  care  and 
watchfulness,  let  us  think  what  a terrible  disappoint- 
ment it  will  be,  after  we  have  made  a bright  profes- 
sion of  Christianity  in  our  lives,  to  lie  down  in  death 
in  a state  of  sin  and  guilt,  and  to  awake  in  the  world 
of  spirits  in  the  midst  of  the  groans  and  agonies  of 
hell,  surrounded  and  covered  with  everlasting  dark- 
ness. Let  our  public  profession  be  as  illustrious  and 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


165 


bright  as  it  will,  yet  if  we  indulge  works  of  darkness 
in  secret,  night  and  darkness  will  be  our  eternal  por- 
tion with  the  anguish  of  conscience  and  the  terrors  of 
the  Almighty,  without  one  glimpse  of  hope  or  relief. 
It  is  only  those  who  walk  in  the  light  of  holiness  here 
who  can  be  fit  to  dwell  in  the  presence  of  a God  of 
holiness  hereafter.  Light  is  sown  only  for  the 
righteous,  and  joy  for  the  upright  in  heart ; and  it 
shall  break  out  one  day  from  amongst  the  clouds,  a 
glorious  harvest;  but  only  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  light  shall  taste  of  the  blessed  fruits  of  it. 

Think  again  with  yourselves,  when  you  are  tempted 
to  sin  and  folly,  what  if  I should  be  cut  off  on  a 
sudden  practising  the  works  of  darkness,  and  my  soul 
be  summoned  into  the  eternal  world,  covered  with 
guilt  and  defilement?  Shall  I then  be  fit  for  the  world 
of  light  ? Will  the  God  of  light  ever  receive  me  to  his 
dwelling?  Do  I not  hereby  render  myself  unfit  com- 
pany for  the  angels  of  light?  And  what  if  I should 
be  sent  down  to  dwell  among  the  spirits  of  darkness, 
since  I have  imitated  their  sinful  manners  and  obeyed 
their  cursed  influences? 

O may  such  thoughts  as  these  dwell  upon  our  spirits 
with  an  awful  solemnity,  and  be  a perpetual  guard 
against  defil  i ng  our  garments  with  any  iniquity, lest  our 
Lord  should  come  and  find  us  thus  polluted.  Let  us 
walk  onwards  in  the  paths  of  light  which  are  disco- 
vered to  us  in  the  word  of  God,  and  which  are  illus- 
trated by  his  holy  ordinances,  to  guide  us  through  the 
clouds  and  shades  which  attend  us  in  this  wilderness, 
till  our  Lord  Jesus  shall  come  with  all  his  surround- 
ing glories,  and  take  us  to  the  full  possession  of  the 
inheritance  in  light. 

4th  Remark.  Under  our  darkest  night,  our  most 
unactive  and  heavy  hours,  our  most  uncomfortable 
seasons  here  on  earth,  let  us  remember  we  are  tra- 
velling to  a world  of  light  and  joy.  If  we  happen  to 


166 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


be  awake  in  midnight  darkness,  and  count  the  tedious 
hours  one  after  another  in  a mournful  succession, 
under  any  of  the  maladies  of  nature,  or  the  sorrows  of 
this  life,  let  us  comfort  ourselves  that  we  are  not  shut 
up  in  eternal  night  and  darkness  without  hope,  but 
we  are  still  making  our  way  towards  that  country 
where  there  is  neither  sin  nor  pain,  malady  nor 
sorrow. 

What  if  the  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  try  us  by  the 
withholding  of  light  from  our  eyes  for  a season? 
What  if  we  are  called  to  seek  our  duty  in  the  dark 
providences,  or  are  perplexed  in  deep  and  difficult 
controversies  wherein  we  cannot  find  the  light  of 
truth?  What  if  we  sit  in  darkness  and  mourning, 
and  see  no  light,  and  the  beams  of  divine  consola- 
tion are  cut  off,  let  us  still  trust  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  and  stay  ourselves  upon  our  God,  especially 
as  he  manifests  himself  in  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain,  the  blessed  medium  of  his  mercy.  Isa.  1.  10. 
Let  us  learn  to  say  with  the  prophet  Micah,  in  the 
spirit  of  faith,  Micah  vii.  8,  9:  “When  I sit  in 
darkness,  the  Lord  will  be  alight  unto  me;  he  will 
bring  me  forth  to  the  light  and  I shall  behold  his 
righteousness.” 

Blessed  be  God  that  the  night  of  ignorance, 
grief,  or  affliction,  which  attends  us  in  this  world 
is  not  everlasting  night.  Heaven  and  glory  are  at 
hand;  wait  and  watch  for  the  morning  star,  for 
Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  Roll  on  apace  in  your  ap- 
pointed course,  ye  suns  and  moons,  and  all  ye  twin- 
kling enlightners  of  the  sky,  carry  on  the  changing 
seasons  of  light  and  darkness  in  this  lower  world 
with  the  utmost  speed,  till  you  have  finished  all  my 
appointed  months  of  continuance  here.  The  light 
of  faith  shows  me  the  dawning  of  that  glorious 
day  which  shall  finish  all  my  nights  and  dark- 
nesses for  ever.  Make  haste,  O delightful  morning, 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 


167 


and  delay  not  my  hopes.  Let  me  hasten,  let  me 
arrive  at  that  blessed  inheritance,  those  mansions 
of  Paradise  where  night  is  never  known,  but  one 
eternal  day  shall  make  our  knowledge,  our  holiness, 
and  our  joy  eternal.  Amen. 


iMm  j hh  m 


W 


: . A . < -'.i:  . • I ' .'  ■=  ’ ; : : >,-?  ,-...  . |-f 

* 

V ti?i  ■ ■ f • * i*  : : - i . j f , {>  r;,:; 

: • i \ .'■■■'  • -i  n < U-i; 
' 

■ „ 


' 

' 

; - 


1 


DISCOURSE  VIIL 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN, 


2 Cor.  v.  5. 


Now  he  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  selfsame  thing , is  GocL 

When  this  apostle  designs  to  entertain  our  hope 
in  the  noblest  manner,  and  raise  our  faith  to  its 
highest  joys,  he  generally  calls  our  thoughts  far 
away  from  all  present  and  visible  things,  and  sends 
them  forward  to  the  great  and  glorious  day  of  the 
resurrection:  he  points  our  meditations  to  take  a dis- 
tant prospect  of  the  final  and  complete  happiness  of 
the  saints  in  heaven,  when  their  bodies  shall  be  raised 
shining  and  immortal;  whereas  it  is  but  seldom  that 
he  takes  notice  of  the  heaven  of  separate  souls,  or 
that  part  of  our  future  happiness  which  commences 
at  the  hour  of  death.  But  in  this  chapter  the  holy 
writer  seems  to  keep  both  these  heavens  in  his  eye, 
and  speaks  of  that  blessedness  with  which  the  spirits 
of  the  just  shall  enjoy  in  the  presence  of  the  Lont, 
as  soon  as  they  are  absent  from  the  body,  and  yet 
16  , 


170  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

leads  our  souls  onwards  also  to  our  last  and  most  perfect 
state  of  happiness,  which  is  delayed  till  our  corrupti- 
ble bodies  shall  be  raised  from  the  dust,  and  mortality 
shall  be  swallowed  up  in  life.  We  know,  saith  he, 
in  the  first  verse  of  this  chapter,  we  know  that  as 
soon  as  our  mortal  tabernacle,  in  which  we  now 
dwell,  is  dissolved,  we  have  a building  ready  for  us 
in  the  heavens;  i.  e.  an  investiture  in  a glorious  state 
of  holiness  and  immortality,  which  waits  to  receive 
our  spirits  when  we  drop  this  dying  flesh : yet  the 
felicities  of  this  paradise,  or  first  heaven,  shall  re- 
ceive an  unspeakable  addition  and  advancement, 
when  Christ  shall  come  the  second  time,  w7ith  all  his 
saints,  to  complete  our  salvation. 

But  which  heaven  soever  we  arrive  at,  whether  it 
be  this  of  the  separate  state,  or  that  when  our  bodies 
shall  be  restored,  still  we  must  be  wrought  up  to  a 
proper  fitness  for  it  by  God  himself;  and,  as  the  end 
of  this  verse  tells  us,  he  gives  us  his  own  Spirit  as  an 
earnest  of  these  future  blessings. 

The  observation  which  shall  be  the  subject  of  my 
discourse,  is  this:  those  who  shall  enjoy  the  heavenly 
blessedness  hereafter,  must  be  prepared  for  it  here 
in  this  world,  by  the  operation  of  the  blessed  God. 

Here  we  must  take  notice  in  the  first  place,  that 
since  we  are  sinful  and  guilty  creatures  in  ourselves, 
^ and  have  forfeited  all  our  pretences  to  the  favour  of 
God  and  happiness,  we  must  be  restored  to  his  fa- 
vour, we  must  have  our  sins  forgiven,  we  must  be 
justified  in  his  sight  with  an  everlasting  righteous- 
ness, we  must  be  adopted  as  the  children  of  God, 
and  have  a right  and  title  given  us  to  the  heavenly 
inheritance,  before  we  can  enter  into  it,  or  possess 
it;  and  this  blessing  is  procured  for  us  by  the  obe- 
dience and  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  in  his 
blood  that  w£  find  an  atonement  for  our  iniquities, 
and  we  must  be  made  heirs  of  glory,  by  becoming 
the  adopted  children  of  God,  and  so  we  are  joint-heirs 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  171 

with  his  Son  Jesus,  and  shall  be  glorified  with  him. 
Rom.  viii.  17. 

And  it  is  by  a true  and  living  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God,  that  w^e  become  partakers  of  this  blessing. 
God  has  “set  forth  his  son  Jesus  as  a propitiation 
for  sinners  through  faith  in  his  blood,”  Rom.  iii.' 
24:  “We  are  justified  by  faith  in  his  blood,  and 
have  hope  of  eternal  life  through  him,”  Rom.  v. 
We  also  receive  our  adoption,  and  “become  the 
children  of  God  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,”  Gal. 
iii.  26;  and  thereby  we  obtain  a title  to  some  mansion 
in  our  Father’s  house  in  heaven,  since  Jesus  our 
elder  brother,  and  our  forerunner,  is  admitted  into 
it  to  take  a place  there  in  our  name.  This  is  a very 
considerable  part  of  our  necessary  preparation  for 
the  heavenly  world,  that  we  should  be  believers  in 
the  Son  of  God,  and  united  to  him  by  a living  faith; 
and  this  faith  also  is  the  gift  of  God,  Eph.  ii.  8. 
We  are  wrought  up  to  it  by  his  grace. 

But  as  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  chief  thing 
designed  in  the  words  of  my  text,  I shall  pass  it  over 
thus  briefly,  and  apply  myself  to  consider  what  that 
farther  fitness  or  preparation  for  heaven  intends,  for 
which  vre  are  said  here  to  be  wrought  up  by  God 
himself.  The  former  preparation  to  heaven,  may 
rather  be  said  to  be  a relative  change,  which  is  in- 
cluded in  our  pardon  or  justification,  and  alters  our 
state  from  the  condemnation  of  hell,  to  the  favour 
and  love  of  God : but  this  latter  preparation  implies 
a real  change  of  our  nature  by  sanctifying  grace, 
and  gives  us  a temper  of  soul  suited  to  the  business 
and  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  world.  This  is  the 
preparation  which  my  text  speaks  of. 

The  great  inquiry  therefore  at  present  is,  what 
are  those  steps,  or  gradual  operations,  by  which  the 
blessed  God  works  up  to  this  fitness 'for  heaven. 

And  here  I shall  not  run  over  all  the  parts  and 
lineaments  of  the  new  creature,  which  is  formed  by 


172  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

regeneration,  nor  the  particular  operations  of  con- 
verting grace,  whereby  we  are  convinced  of  sin,  and 
led  to  faith  and  repentance,  and  new  obedience, 
though  these  are  all  necessary  to  this  end;  but  I 
shall  confine  myself  only  to  those  things  which  have 
a more  immediate  reference  to  the  heavenly  blessed- 
ness, and  they  are  such  as  follow. 

1.  God  works  us  up  to  a preparation  for  the  hea- 
venly felicity,  by  establishing  and  confirming  our 
belief,  that  there  is  a heaven  provided  for  the  saints, 
and  by  giving  us  some  clearer  acquaintance  with 
the  nature,  the  business,  and  the  blessedness  of  this 
heaven.  All  this  is  done  by  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
and  by  the  secret  operation  of  the  blessed  God, 
teaching  us  to  understand  his  gospel. 

Alas!  how  ignorant  were  the  heathen  sages  about 
any  future  state  for  the  righteous?  How  bewildered 
were  the  best  of  them  in  all  their  imaginations? 
How  vain  were  all  their  reasonings  upon  this  subject, 
and  how  little  satisfaction  could  they  give  to  an 
honest  inquirer,  whether  there  was  any  reward  pro- 
vided for  good  men  beyond  this  life?  The  light  of 
nature  was  their  guide;  and  those  in  whom  this 
feeble  taper  burnt  with  the  fairest  lustre,  were  still 
left  in  great  darkness  about  futurity.  As  the  Gen- 
tile philosophers  were  left  in  great  uncertainties 
whether  there  was  any  heaven  or  no,  so  were  their 
conceptions  of  heavenly  things  very  absurd  and  ri- 
diculous; and  their  various  fancies  about  the  nature 
and  enjoyments  of  it,  were  all  impertinence. 

And  how  little  knowledge  had  the  patriarchs  them- 
selves, if  we  may  judge  of  their  knowledge  by  the 
five  books  of  Moses,  which  give  no  plain  and  ex- 
press promise  of  future  happiness  in  another  world, 
neither  to  Abel  nor  Noah,  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  Ja- 
cob, or  to  Moses  himself?  And  were  it  not  for 
some  expressions  in  the  New  Testament,  and  by 
that  eleventh  chapter  to  the  Hebrews,  where  we  are 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  173 

told,  that  these  good  men  “ sought  a heavenly  coun- 
try,” and  hoped  for  happiness  in  a future  and  in- 
visible state,  we  should  sometimes  be  ready  to  doubt 
whether  they  knew  almost  any  thing  of  the  future 
resurrection  and  glory. 

That  great  and  excellent  man  Job,  had  one  or 
two  lucid  intervals  of  peculiar  brightness,  which 
shone  upon  him  from  heaven,  in  the  midst  of  his 
distresses,  and  raised  him  above  and  beyond  the 
common  level  of  the  dispensation  he  lived  in : yet 
in  the  main,  when  he  describes  the  state  of  the  dead, 
how  desolate  and  dolesome  is  his  language,  and 
what  heavy  darkness  hangs  upon  his  hope!  See 
his  expressions,  Job  x.  21,  22*  “Let  me  alone  that 
I may  take  comfort  a little,  before  I go  whence  I 
shall  not  return,  even  to  the  land  of  darkness,  and 
the  shadow  of  death,  a land  of  darkness  as  darkness 
itself,  and  of  the  shadow  of  death  without  any  order, 
and  where  the  light  is  as  darkness.”  Mark  how 
this  good  man  heaps  one  darkness  upon  another, 
and  makes  so  formidable  a gloom  as  was  hardly  to 
be  dispelled  by  the  common  notices  given  to  men 
in  that  age. 

And  if  we  look  into  the  Jewish  writings  in  and 
after  the  days  of  Moses,  we  find  the  men  of  righ- 
teousness frequently  entertained  with  promises  of 
corn,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  other  blessings  of  sense; 
and  few  there  were  amongst  them  who  saw  clearly, 
and  firmly  believed  the  heavenly  inheritance  through 
the  types,  and  shadows,  and  figures  of  Canaan, 
the  promised  land,  which  flowed  with  milk  and 
honey. 

It  is  granted  there  are  some  hints  and  discoveries 
of  a blessedness  beyond  the  grave  in  the  writings  of 
David,  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  some  of  the  prophets: 
but  the  brightest  of  these  notices  fall  far  short  of 
what  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  set 
before  us.  The  Son  of  God,  who  came  down  from 

16* 


174  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

heaven,  where  he  had  lived  from  before  the  creation 
of  this  world,  has  revealed  to  us  infinitely  more  of 
the  invisible  state  than  all  that  went  before  him:  he 
tells  us  of  the  pure  in  heart  enjoying  the  sight  of  God, 
and  conversing  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the 
ancient  saints;  he  assures  us  there  are  many  man- 
sions in  his  Father’s  house,  and  that  he  went  to  pre- 
pare a place  there  for  his  followers.  “I  tell  you,” 
says  he,  John  viii.  38,  “I  tell  you  the  things  which 

1 have  seen  with  my  Father.”  And  when  he  came 
again  from  the  dead,  he  made  it  appear  to  his  disci- 
ples that  he  had  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
by  his  gospel,  2 Tim.  i.  10. 

It  is  only  the  New  Testament  that  gives  us  so 
bright  and  satisfactory  an  account  what  our  future 
heaven  is:  the  righteous  shall  be  with  God,  shall  be- 
hold  him,  shall  dwell  with  Christ,  and  see  his  glory  ; 
they  shall  worship  day  and  night  in  his  temple,  and 
sing  the  praises  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  and 
of  the  Lamb  that  has  redeemed  them  by  his  blood ; 
there  shall  be  no  sin,  no  sorrow,  no  death,  nor  any 
more  pain;  they  shall  have  such  satisfactions  and 
employments  as  are  worthy  of  a rational  nature,  and 
a soul  refined  from  sense  and  sin.  St.  Paul,  one  of 
his  disciples,  was  transported  into  the  third  heaven 
before  he  died,  and  there  learnt  unspeakable  things, 

2 Cor.  xii.  2,  4;  and  he,  together  with  the  other 
apostles,  have  published  the  glories  of  that  future 
world  which  they  learnt  from  Jesus  their  Lord,  and 
confirmed  these  things  to  our  faith  by  prophecies 
and  miracles  without  number. 

Now  the  blessed  God  himself  prepares  his  own 
people  for  this  heaven  of  happiness,  by  giving  them 
a full  conviction  and  assurance  of  the  truth  of  all 
these  divine  discoveries;  he  impresses  them  upon 
their  heart  with  power,  and  makes  them  attend  to 
those  divine  impressions.  Every  true  Christian  has 
learnt  to  say  within  himself,  “ this  celestial  blessedness 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


175 


is  no  dream,  is  no  painted  vision,  no  gay  scene  of 
flattering  fancy,  nor  is  it  a matter  of  doubtful  dispute, 
or  of  uncertain  opinion.  I am  assured  of  it  from  the 
words  of  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  and  from  his  blessed 
followers,  whom  he  authorized  to  teach  me  the  things 
of  a future  world.  He  that  is  taught  of  God  beholds 
these  glories  in  the  light  of  a divine  faith  which  is  to 
him  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evi- 
dence of  things  not  yet  seen,  Heb.  xi.  1. 

2.  God  works  up  the  souls  of  his  people  to  a pre- 
paration for  the  heavenly  state  by  purifying  them 
from  every  defilement  that  might  unfit  them  for  the 
blessedness  of  heaven.  The  removal  of  the  guilt  of 
sin  by  his  pardoning  mercy  I have  mentioned  before, 
as  necessary  to  our  entrance  into  the  heavenly  state; 
and  we  must  walk  through  this  world,  this  defiling 
world,  with  all  holy  watchfulness,  lest  our  soul  be 
blemished  with  new  pollutions,  lest  new  guilt  come 
upon  our  consciences,  and  the  thoughts  of  appear- 
ance before  God  be  terrible  to  us.  That  soul  is  very 
much  unfit  for  an  entrance  into  the  presence  of  a 
holy  God,  who  is  trver  plunging  itself  into  new  cir- 
cumstances of  guilt,  by  a careless  and  unholy  con- 
versation. To  stand  upon  the  borders  of  life,  and 
the  very  edge  of  eternity,  will  be  dreadful  to  those 
who  have  given  themselves  a loose  to  criminal  plea- 
sures, and  indulged  their  irregular  appetites  and  pas- 
sions. 

But  it  is  not  only  a conscience  purged  from  the 
guilt  of  sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  a soul  washed 
also  from  the  defiling  power  and  taint  of  sin  by 
the  sanctifying  Spirit  that  is  necessary  to  make  us 
meet  for  the  heavenly  inheritance.  This  is  that  pu- 
rification which  I now  chiefly  intend,  Matt.  v.  8: 
“Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. 
Nothing  that  defileth  must  enter  into  the  city  of  God 
on  high,  nor  whosoever  maketh  a lie  or  loveth  it/* 
Rev.  xxi.  27.  No  injustice,  no  falsehood,  no  guile  or 


176  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

deceit,  can  be  admitted  within  those  gates:  they  must 
be  without  guile  both  in  their  heart  and  tongue,  if 
they  will  stand  before  the  throne  of  God,  Rev.  xiv. 
5.  Sincerity  and  truth  of  soul,  with  all  the  beauties 
of  an  upright  heart  and  character,  are  necessary  to 
prepare  an  inhabitant  for  that  blessed  state.  There 
must  be  no  envy,  no  wrath  or  malice,  no  revenge,  nor 
any  of  the  angry  principles  that  dwell  in  our  flesh  and 
blood,  or  that  inflame  and  disturb  the  mind,  will  be 
found  in  those  regions  of  peace  and  love.  There 
must  be  no  pride  or  ambition,  no  self-exaltation  and 
vanity  that  can  dwell  in  heaven;  for  it  cast  out  the 
angels  of  glorious  degree,  when  they  would  exalt 
themselves  above  their  own  station.  “Pride  was 
the  condemnation  of  the  devil,”  and  it  must  not  dwell 
in  a human  heart  that  ever  hopes  for  a heavenly 
dwelling-place,  1 Tim.  iii.  6,  and  Jude,  ver.  6.  There 
must  be  no  sensual  and  intemperate  creature  there, 
no  covetous  selfishness,  no  irregular  passions,  no  nar- 
rowness of  soul,  no  uncharitable  and  party  spirit 
will  ever  be  found  in  that  country  of  diffusive  love 
i»ndjoy._ 

And  since  the  best  of  Christians  have  had  the  seeds 
of  many  of  these  iniquities  in  their  hearts,  and  they 
have  made  a painful  complaint  of  these  rising  cor- 
ruptions of  nature  upon  many  occasions,  these  ini- 
quities must  be  mortified  and  slain  by  the  w'ork  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  within  us,  if  ever  we  ourselves 
would  live  the  divine  life  of  heaven,  Rom.  viii.  13. 
There  is  a great  deal  of  this  purifying  work  to  be 
done  in  the  souls  of  all  of  us,  before  we  can  be  pre- 
pared for  the  heavenly  world,  and  though  we  cannot 
* arrive  at  perfection  here,  yet  we  must  be  wrought 
up  to  a temper  in  some  measure  fit  to  enter  into  that 
blessedness:  and  God  is  training  his  people  up  for 
this  purpose  all  the  days  of  their  travels  through 
this  desert  world.  Happy  souls,  who  feel  themselves 
more  and  more  released  from  the  bonds  of  these  ini- 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


177 


quities,  day  by  day,  and  thereby  feel  within  them- 
selves the  growing  evidences  of  a joyful  hope  ! 

3.  God  does  not  purify  us  from  every  sin  in  order 
to  prepare  us  for  heaven,  but  he  is  ever  loosening  and 
weaning  our  hearts  from  all  those  lawful  things  in 
life  which  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in  heaven.  Our 
sensual  appetites,  and  our  carnal  desires,  so  far  as  they 
are  natural,  though  not  sinful,  must  die  before  we 
can  enter  into  eternal  life.  Flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  that  divine,  incorruptible,  and  refined  happi- 
ness. Riches  and  treasures  of  gold  and  silver  which 
the  rust  can  corrupt,  and  which  thieves  can  break 
through  and  steal,  are  not  provided  for  the  heavenly 
state:  they  are  all  of  the  earthly  kind,  and  too  mean 
for  the  relish  of  a heavenly  spirit.  Although  a Chris- 
tian may  possess  many  of  these  things  in  the  pre- 
sent life,  yet  his  affections  must  be  divested  of  them 
and  his  soul'divided  from  them,  if  he  would  be  a saint 
indeed,  and  ever  ready  for  the  purer  blessings  of 
paradise.  The  businesses,  the  cares  and  the  con- 
cerns of  this  secular  life,  are  ready  to  drink  up  our 
spirits  too  much  while  we  are  here;  we  are  too  prone 
to  mingle  our  very  souls  with  them,  and  thereby 
grow  unfit  for  heavenly  felicities:  and  therefore  it  is 
that  our  Saviour  has  warned  us,  Luke  xxi.  34: 
“Let  not  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  the  cares 
of  this  world  any  more  than  with  surfeiting  and 
drunkenness,”  if  you  would  be  always  ready  for  your 
flight  to  a better  state,  and  meet  the  summons  of  your 
Lord  to  paradise. 

There  are  also  many  curious  speculations  and  de- 
lightful amusements  which  may  lawfully  entertain 
us  while  we  are  here;  there  are  sports  and  recreations 
which  may  divert  the  flesh  or  the  mind  in  a lawful 
manner,  whilst  we  dwell  in  tabernacles  of  flesh  and 
blood,  and  are  encompassed  with  mortal  things:  but 
the  soul  that  is  wrought  for  heaven  must  arise  to  a 
holy  indifference  to  all  the  entertainments  of  flesh 


178  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

and  sense,  and  time,  if  it  would  put  on  the  appear- 
ance of  a heavenly  inhabitant,  Christians  that 
would  be  ever  ready  for  the  glories  of  a better  world 
must  be  such  in  some  measure  as  the  apostle  de- 
scribes, 1 Cor.  vii.  29,  &c.  They  must  rejoice  with 
such  moderation  in  their  dearest  comforts  of  life  as 
though  they  rejoiced  not,  they  must  weep  and  mourn 
for  the  loss  of  them  with  such  a divine  self-govern- 
ment as  though  they  wept  not,  they  must  buy  as 
though  they  possessed  not,  they  must  use  this  world 
as  not  abusing  it  in  any  instance,  but  must  look 
upon  the  fashions  and  the  scenes  of  it  as  vanishing 
things,  and  have  their  hearts  “set  on  the  things  that 
are  above,  where  Christ  Jesus  is  at  the  Father’s  right 
hand,”  Col.  iii.  1,  2. 

If  you  ask  me  what  methods  the  blessed  God  uses 
in  order  to  attain  these  ends,  and  to  purify  and  refine 
the  soul  for  heaven,  I answer,  he  sometimes  does  it 
by  sharp  strokes  of  affliction,  making  our  interests  in 
the  creature  bitter  to  us,  that  we  may  be  weaned 
from  the  relish  of  them,  and  the  power  of  divine 
grace  must  accompany  all  his  weaning  providences, 
or  the  work  will  not  be  done. 

Sometimes  again  he  weans  the  soul  from  the  law- 
ful things  of  this  world,  by  permitting  our  earthly 
enjoyments  to  plunge  us  into  difficulties,  to  seize  the 
heart  with  anxieties,  or  to  surround  us  with  sore 
temptations:  then,  when  we  feel  ourselves  falling 
into  sin,  and  bruised  or  defiled  thereby,  w^e  lose  our 
former  gust  of  pleasure  in  them ; and  when  we  are 
recovered  by  divine  grace,  we  are  more  effectually 
weaned  from  such  kind  of  temptations  for  the  fu- 
ture; but  it  is  impossible  in  the  compass  of  a few 
lines  to  describe  the  various  methods  which  the 
blessed  God  uses  to  wean  the  spirit  from  all  its  earthly 
attachments,  and  to  work  it  up  to  a meetness 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  Bless- 
ed souls,  who  are  thus  loosened  and  weaned  from 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  179 

sensible  things,  though  it  be  done  by  painful  suf- 
ferings! 

4.  The  great  God  not  only  weans  our  hearts 
from  those  things  that  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in 
heaven,  but  he  gives  us  a holy  appetite  and  relish 
suited  to  the  provisions  of  the  heavenly  world,  and 
raises  our  desires  and  tendencies  of  soul  toward 
them.  By  nature  our  minds  are  estranged  from 
God,  and  from  all  that  is  divine  and  holy;  we  have 
no  desires  after  his  love,  nor  delight  in  the  thoughts 
of  dwelling  with  God  : but  when  divine  grace  has 
effectually  touched  the  heart,  it  ever  tends  upwards 
to  that  world  of  holiness  and  peace.  So  the  needle, 
when  it  is  touched  by  the  loadstone,  ever  points  to 
the  beloved  pole-star,  and  seems  uneasy  when  it  is 
diverted  from  it,  nor  will  it  rest  till  it  return  thither 
again. 

Do  the  sweet  sensations  of  divine  love  make  up 
a great  part  of  the  heavenly  blessedness?  The  soul 
is  in  some  measure  fitted  for  it,  who  can  say  with 
David  in  Psal.  iv.  6,  “Lord,  lift  thou  up  upon  me 
the  light  of  thy  countenance,  and  it  shall  rejoice  my 
heart  more  than  if  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil  abounded,” 
and  all  earthly  blessings  were  multiplied  upon  me; 
for  in  thy  love  is  the  life  of  my  soul,  and  thy  “loving- 
kindness is  better  than  life.”  Psal.  lxiii. 

Is  the  felicitating  presence  of  God  to  be  enjoyed 
in  the  future  world,  and  shall  we  see  his  face  there 
with  unspeakable  delight?  Then  those  souls  are 
prepared  for  heaven,  who  can  say  with  the  Psalmist, 
Psalm  xlii.  2,  “When  shall  I come  and  appear 
before  God?”  When  shall  I have  finished  my  travels 
through  this  wilderness,  that  I may  arrive  at  my 
Father’s  house?  “This  one  thing  have  I desired, 
that  I may  dwell  in  the  house  of  God  for  ever,  to 
behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  there,”  Psal.  xxvii.  4. 
It  is  enough  for  me  that  I shall  behold  thy  face  in 


180 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


righteousness,  and  I shall  be  satisfied  when  I awake 
out  of  the  dust  with  thy  likeness.  With  my  soul 
have  I desired  thee,  O Lord,  in  the  night,  in  the 
darkness  of  this  desert  world  I have  longed  for  the 
light  of  thy  face,  “and  with  my  spirit  within  me 
I will  seek  thee  early.  Whom  have  I in  heaven 
but  thee,  neither  is  there  any  on  earth  that  I desire 
beside  thee.”  Psalm  xvii.  Isa.  xxvi.  Psalm  lxxiii. 
O when  shall  the  day  come  when  there  shall  be  no 
more  distance  and  estrangement  of  my  heart  from 
God,  but  I shall  feel  all  my  powers  for  ever  near 
him? 

Is  the  sweet  society  of  Jesus  to  be  enjoyed  in  the 
heavenly  region,  then  those  are  prepared  for  this 
happiness  who  feel  in  themselves  a desire  to  depart 
and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better  than  the 
most  pleasurable  scenes  on  earth,  Phil.  i.  23:  “I  am 
willing  and  rejoice  in  the  thought  of  it  rather  to  be 
absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the 
Lord*,’’  2 Cor.  v.  8.  I behold  in  the  light  of  faith 
the  dawning  glory  of  that  day  when  Jesus  shall  re- 
turn from  heaven,  when  he  shall  revisit  this  wretched 
world,  and  put  an  end  to  these  wretched  scenes  of 
vanity.  “ Behold  he  cometh  in  the  clouds  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him.”  He  comes  into  our  world  to  them 
that  look  for  him,  not  to  be  made  a sacrifice  for  sin, 
but  to  complete  our  salvation.  I long  to  behold  him, 
and  I love  the  thought  of  his  appearance,  Rev.  i. 
Heb.  ix.  2 Tim.  iv.  &c. 

Is  there  not  only  a freedom  from  pain  and  sorrow 
among  the  saints  on  high,  but  is  there  also  an  eternal 
release  from  all  the  bonds  of  sin  and  temptation? 
Then  that  soul  discovers  a degree  of  preparation 
for  it,  who  can  say  with  a holy  groan  and  grief  of 
heart,  “ O wretched  man  that  I am,  who  shall  de- 
liver me  from  this  body  of  sin  and  death  V}  Rom. 
vii.  “In  this  tabernacle  we  groan  indeed  being 
burdened,  and  are  desirous  rather  to  be  clothed 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  181 

upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heave n,”  with 
our  holy  state  of  immortality,  2 Cor.  v.  4.  That  God 
who  has  wrought  these  divine  breathings  in  the 
soul  will  one  day  fulfil  them  all,  and  he  is  working 
up  the  Christian  to  a blessed  meetness  for  this  fe- 
licity by  awakening  these  wishes  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  heart.  Happy  heart,  which  feels  these  holy 
aspirations,  these  divine  breathings! 

5.  The  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  work  us  up  to  a 
preparation  for  the  heavenly  world  by  forming  the 
temper  of  our  minds  into  a likeness  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  heaven,  i.  e.  to  God  himself,  to  Jesus  the  Son 
of  God,  to  angels  and  saints,  to  the  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect.  From  the  children  of  folly  and 
sin  we  must  be  transformed  into  the  children  of 
God,  we  must  be  created  anew  after  his  image  and 
resemble  our  heavenly  Father,  that  we  may  be 
capable  of  enjoying  his  love,  and  rejoicing  in  his 
presence.  We  must  be  conformable  to  the  image 
of  his  only  begotten  Son  Christ  Jesus,  and  walk 
and  live  as  he  did  in  this  world,  that  we  may  be 
prepared  to  dwell  with  him  in  the  world  to  come, 
Rom.  viii.  29.  1 John  iv.  17.  We  must  have  the 

same  temper  and  spirit  of  holiness  wrought  in  us, 
that  we  may  be  imitators  of  all  the  holy  ones  that 
dwell  in  heaven,  and  that  we  may  be  followers  of 
the  saints  who  have  been  strangers  and  travellers  in 
this  world  in  all  former  ages. 

How  can  we  hope  to  have  free  conversation  with 
glorious  beings,  which  are  so  unlike  to  ourselves, 
as  God,  and  Christ,  and  angels,  are  unlike  to  the 
sinful  children  of  men?  How  can  we  imagine 
ourselves  to  be  fit  company  for  such  pure  and  per- 
fect beings,  beauteous,  and  shining  in  holiness, 
while  we  are  defiled  with  the  iniquities  of  our  na- 
tures, and  ever  falling  into  new  guilt  and  pollution? 
Happy  souls,  who  can  say,  through  grace,  I have 
walked  in  the  light  as  God  is  in  the  light,  and  I 
17 


182  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

trust,  O Father,  I shall  dwell  for  ever  with  thee 
there.  I have  been  a follower  of  the  Lamb  through 
the  thorny  and  rugged  passages  of  this  wilderness, 
and  I humbly  hope  I shall  sit  with  thee,  O Jesus, 
upon  a throne,  glorious  and  holy.  I have  been  a 
companion  of  them  who  have  finished  the  Christian 
race,  who  have  fought  the  good  fight,  and  obtained 
the  victory,  and  I trust  I shall  have  a name  and 
a place  amongst  all  yon  holy  ones  who  have  fought 
and  overcome.  O for  a heart  and  tongue  furnished 
for  such  appeals  to  all  the  blessed  inhabitants  of 
Paradise,  the  possessors  of  those  mansions  on  high! 

6.  The  grace  of  God  works  us  up  to  a prepara- 
tion for  heaven  by  carrying  us  through  those  trials 
and  sufferings,  those  labours  and  conflicts  here  in 
this  life,  which  will  not  only  make  heaven  the 
sweeter  to  us,  but  will  make  it  more  honourable 
for  God  himself  to  bestow  this  heaven  upon  us. 

When  the  spirits  of  a creature  are  almost  worn 
out  with  the  toilsome  labours  of  the  day,  what  an 
additional  sweetness  does  he  find  in  rest  and  repose? 
What  an  inward  relish  and  satisfaction  to  the  soul, 
that  has  been  fatigued  under  a long  and  tedious 
war  with  sins  and  temptations,  to  be  transported  to 
such  a place  where  sin  cannot  follow  them,  and 
temptation  can  never  reach  them?  How  will  it 
enhance  all  the  felicities  of  the  heavenly  world, 
when  we  enter  into  it,  to  feel  ourselves  released 
from  all  the  trials  and  distresses  and  sufferings 
which  we  have  sustained  in  our  travels  thither- 
wards? The  review  of  the  waves  and  the  storms 
wherein  we  had  been  tossed  for  a long  season,  and 
had  been  almost  shipwrecked  there,  will  make  the 
peaceful  haven  of  eternity,  to  which  we  shall  ar- 
rive, much  more  agreeable  to  every  one  of  the  suf- 
ferers, 2 Cor.  iv.  17:  “Our  light  afflictions,  which 
are  but  for  a moment,”  are  in  this  way  working 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  183 

for  us  a far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory,  and  preparing  us  for  the  possession  of  it. 

But  it  should  be  added  also,  that  the  pride  of  life, 
and  the  crown  of  glory,  is  much  more  honourably 
bestowed  on  those  who  have  been  long  fighting, 
running,  and  labouring  to  obtain  it.  Heaven  will 
appear  as  a condecent  reward  of  all  the  faithful 
servants  of  God  upon  earth,  and  a divine  recom- 
pense of  their  labours  and  sufferings,  2 Thess.  i.  6, 
As  “it  is  a righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompense 
tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you,  so  to  give  to 
those  who  are  troubled  rest  and  salvation.”  This  is 
that  equitable  or  condecent  fitness  that  God,  as 
Governor  of  the  world,  has  wisely  appointed  and 
made  necessary  before  our  entrance  into  heaven. 
Christ  himself  our  forerunner,  and  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation,  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings, 
and  was  trained  up  for  his  throne  on  high  by  en- 
during the  contradiction  of  sinners,  and  the  variety 
of  agonies  which  attended  his  life  and  death  in  this 
lower  world,  this  stage  of  conflict  and  sufferings. 
See  Heb.  ii.  10,  and  xii.  1. 

Though  we  cannot  pretend  by  our  labours  in  the 
race  to  have  merited  the  prize,  yet  we  must  labour 
through  the  race  before  we  receive  it.  Our  con- 
flicts cannot  pretend  to  have  deserved  the  crown 
which  is  promised,  but  we  must  fight  the  battles 
of  the  Lord  before  we  obtain  it.  This  was  St. 
Paul’s  encouragement  and  hope,  2 Tim.  iv.  7, 
8:  “I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I have  finished 
my  course,  I have  kept  the  faith;  henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a crown  of  righteousness,  which 
the  Lord  the  righteous  Judge  will  give  me,  and 
not  to  me  only,  but  to  all  those  who  love  his  ap- 
pearance.” There  is  a great  deal  of  divine  wis- 
dom in  this  appointment,  that  the  children  of  God 
may  be  “counted  in  this  sense  worthy  of  his  king- 
dom for  which  they  also  suffer,”  2 Thess.  i.  5;  and 


184  A.  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

that  the  relish  of  those  satisfactions  may  be  doubled 
to  all  the  sufferers. 

7.  God  yet  farther  prepares  and  works  up  his  peo- 
ple for  heaven  by  teaching  them  some  of  the  em- 
ployments of  the  heavenly  world,  and  initiating  and 
inuring  them  to  the  practice  thereof.  Is  the  con- 
templation of  the  blessed  God  in  his  nature  and  his 
various  perfections  the  business  of  glorified  souls? 
God  teaches  his  children,  whom  he  is  training  up  for 
glory,  to  practise  this  holy  contemplation : he  fixes 
their  thoughts  upon  the  wonders  of  his  nature  and 
his  grace,  his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  the 
blessings  of  his  redeeming  love  by  his  Son  Jesus,  and 
the  terrors  of  his  justice  which  shall  be  executed  by 
the  same  hand,  while  the  soul  at  the  same  time  can 
appeal  to  God  with  holy  delight,  my  meditation  of 
thee  shall  be  sweet  indeed:  O may  I dwell  for  ever 
in  the  midst  of  thy  light,  and  see  all  thy  wondrous 
glories  diffused  around  me,  and  make  my  joys  ever- 
lasting. 

Are  we  told  that  heaven  consists  also  in  “ beholding 
the  glory  of  Christ,”  John  xvii.  24.  And  how  hap- 
pily does  God  prepare  his  saints  for  this  part  of 
heaven,  by  filling  their  thoughts  with  the  various 
graces  and  honours  of  Jesus  the  Saviour?  And 
when  they  are  in  their  lonely  retirements,  they  trace 
the  footsteps  of  their  beloved  through  all  his  labours 
and  sorrows  in  this  mortal  state,  even  from  his  cradle 
to  his  cross;  they  follow  him  in  their  holy  meditations 
to  his  agonies  in  the  garden,  to  his  anguish  of  soul 
there;  through  all  his  sufferings  in  death,  through 
the  grave  his  bed  of  darkness,  and  trace  him  on  still 
to  his  glorious  resurrection,  and  to  his  ascent  to  his 
Father’s  house,  when  a bright  cloud  like  a chariot 
of  fire  bore  him  up  to  heaven  with  attending  angels: 
This  is  my  beloved,  says  the  soul,  and  this  is  my 
friend,  whom  I shall  see  in  the  upper  world : he  is 
altogether  lovely,  and  he  demands  my  highest  love. 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  185 

Is  it  part  of  the  happiness  of  heaven  to  converse 
with  the  blessed  God  by  holy  addresses  of  acknow- 
ledgments and  praise,  as  it  is  described  in  Rev.  iv. 
and  v.  and  vii:  “They  are  before  the  throne  of  God 
day  and  night,  and  serve  him  in  his  temple/’  and 
join  with  holy  joy  to  pronounce  that  divine  song, 
“Blessing  and  honour,  and  glory  and  power,  be  to 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for 
ever  and  ever:  worthy  art  thou,  O Lord,  to  receive 
glory  and  honour,  for  thou  hast  created  all  things  for 
thy  pleasure:  worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to 
receive  power,  and  riches,  and  strength,  glory  and 
blessing;  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us 
unto  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred  and  na- 
tion?” Now  it  is  evident  that  those  whose  hearts 
and  lips  are  joyfully  fitted  to  pronounce  this  holy 
song,  and  to  join  in  this  harmony,  are  fitted  also  for 
these  blessed  employments  of  the  heavenly  state: 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  they  abase  themselves  in 
the  dust  of  humility,  and  with  the  living  creatures  or 
angels  they  fall  down  before  the  throne,  and  with  the 
elders  they  cast  down  their  crowns  at  his  feet,  they 
confess  themselves  the  sons  of  earth  and.  dust,  and 
would  appear  as  nothing  while  God  is  all,  Rev.  iv. 
9,  10,  and  v.  8. 

Are  all  the  powers  of  glorified  nature  in  heaven 
active  in  the  unknown  services  of  God  and  Christ 
there?  So  the  saints  are  trained  up  for  this  service 
and  this  activity  here  on  earth,  by  diligence  and 
delight  in  their  less  noble  employments,  the  inferior 
labours  and  duties  that  Providence  demands  of  them 
here,  whereby  they  are  prepared  for  more  glorious 
employment  on  high;  for  heaven  is  no  idle  or  unac- 
tive state. 

Do  some  of  the  satisfactions  of  the  heavenly  world 
arise  from  the  sweet  society  of  the  blessed  above, .their 
fervent  love  to  each  other,  their  mutual  delight  in 
holy  converse,  the  joy  that  arises  in  the  heart  of  each 

17* 


186  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

upon  a survey  of  the  happiness  of  all  the  holy  and 
blessed  inhabitants?  Does  benevolence  and  goodness 
of  every  kind  overflow  in  the  heavenly  world?  It  is 
plain  that  God  is  training  up  his  own  children  for  this 
blessedness,  by  employing  them  in  this  manner  while 
they  are  here  below : he  is  in  some  measure  fitted 
for  this  heaven,  who  can  say  the  saints  are  the  excel- 
lent of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all  my  delight:  I love 
them  from  my  soul,  because  they  love  my  God  and 
my  Saviour.  I see  the  image  of  the  Father,  and  of 
Jesus  his  Son  in  them,  and  I cannot  but  love  that 
image  wheresoever  I behold  it.  I feel  myself  ready 
to  rejoice  when  my  fellow  Christians  partake  of  joy, 
and  I long  for  that  temper  of  mind  when  I shall  de- 
light myself  in  the  felicity  of  all  my  fellow  saints  in 
perfection,  and  shall  make  their  heaven  a part  of  my 
own.  But  I proceed  not  here,  because  this  would 
anticipate  what  I design  hereafter. 

8.  God  is  pleased  to  work  up  his  people  to  a pre- 
paration for  the  heavenly  state  by  giving  them  a 
pledge  and  earnest  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven,  that 
is,  by  sending  his  own  Spirit  into  their  hearts  under 
this  very  character,  both  as  the  spring  of  a divine  life 
and  as  the  evidence  of  our  hope,  and  sometimes  be- 
stowing upon  them  such  foretastes  of  the  heavenly 
world,  by  the  operations  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  which  are 
too  joyful  and  glorious  to  be  fully  expressed  in  mor- 
tal language;  but  we  shall  attempt  something  of  it  in 
another  discourse. 

I proceed  now  to  seek  what  inferences  or  edify- 
ing remarks  may  be  made  upon  our  meditations 
thus  far. 

Bemark  1.  We  learn  from  my  text  what  are  the 
brightest,  the  plainest,  and  the  surest  evidences  of 
our  interest  in  the  heavenly  blessedness:  are  trained 
up  to  it,  and  prepared  for  it?  Has  the  blessed  God 
wrought  up  our  souls  to  any  hopeful  degrees  of  this 
preparation?  Has  he  in  any  measure  made  us  meet 
for  this  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light? 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  187 

I grant  the  scripture  teaches  us,  that  it  is  by  a true 
and  living  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  we 
obtain  a title  to  eternal  life,  according  to  the  propo- 
sals of  the  covenant  of  grace  in  the  gospel;  but  our 
preparation  for  heaven  by  a holy  and  heavenly  tem- 
per of  mind  and  conduct  of  life,  is  the  fairest  and 
most  uncontested  evidence  of  the  truth  and  life  of 
our  faith,  and  such  a proof  of  it,  as  will  stand  the 
test  both  in  life  and  death,  in  this  world,  and  in  the 
world  to  come.  If  we  would  manifest  our  faith 
in  Christ  to  be  sincere  and  genuine,  and  effectual  for 
our  salvation,  we  must  make  it  appear  that  we  are 
growing  up  into  the  image  of  Christ  in  all  things, 
we  must  be  formed  after  the  likeness  of  the  Son  of 
God,  who  is  our  great  example  and  our  fore-runner 
into  heaven;  and  where  this  evidence  is  found  the 
soul  cannot  fail  of  salvation.  Wheresoever  there  is 
this  fitness  for  the  joys  on  high,  God  will  assuredly 
bestow  these  divine  pleasures.  It  is  for  such  souls 
that  he  has  prepared  a heaven,  and  when  he  has  pre- 
pared such  souls  for  the  heavenly  world,  he  will 
surely  bring  them  to  the  possession  of  it. 

Of  how  great  moment  and  importance  is  it  then 
for  each  of  us  to  examine  ourselves  with  watchful 
diligence  and  sincerity,  whether  we  are  in  any  mea- 
sure fitted  for  the  blessedness  above:  and  to  this  end 
we  may  run  over  in  our  inquiries  all  the  former  steps 
of  preparation. 

Let  us  inquire  of  our  souls  then,  Am  I so  fully 
persuaded  of  this  state  of  future  happiness,  as  to  re- 
solve, this  shall  be  my  aim,  this  my  everlasting  pur- 
suit? Have  we  seen  this  blessedness  in  the  various 
representations  of  it  in  the  word  of  God  as  the  most 
amiable  and  desirable  thing,  and  have  we  set  our 
faces  to  travel  thither  with  a holy  purpose  and  de- 
termination, through  grace,  never  to  tire  or  grow 
weary  till  we  arrive  at  the  enjoyment  of  it?  Have  we 
fixed  our  hope  and  expectation  upon  the  blessed  pro- 


188 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN, 


mises  in  the  word,  and  are  we  by  these  promises  en- 
deavouring daily  to  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defile- 
ments of  flesh  and  spirit,  and  to  perfect  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God?  Do  we  obtain  any  victories  over  our 
spiritual  enemies,  and  maintain  our  pious  conflicts 
against  all  the  oppositions  which  we  meet  with  in 
our  way?  Do  we  labour  to  suppress  every  rising 
ferment  of  envy,  pride,  wrath,  sensuality,  and  those 
corrupt  appetites  and  passions  which  render  us  unfit 
for  that  holy  and  heavenly  world?  Are  our  hearts 
daily  more  mortified  to  the  things  of  this  world,  the 
enjoyments  of  flesh  and  sense,  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  heaven?  Are  our  hearts  more  weaned 
from  the  sensual  satisfactions  and  intemperate  de- 
lights of  the  animal  life?  Are  we  dead  to  the  temp- 
tations of  gold  and  silver,  the  grandeurs  and  the 
gaieties,  and  splendour  of  this  present  low  life  of  flesh 
and  blood,  which  are  no  part  nor  portion  of  the 
heavenly  felicity?  Do  we  view  the  tempting  things 
of  this  world,  with  a holy  indifference,  and  possess 
and  use  them  with  affections  so  calm,  and  so  cool,  as 
becomes  a rank  of  beings  that  have  a nobler,  a 
richer,  and  a more  exalted  hope?  Have  we  found 
the  labours  and  burdens,  the  sorrows  and  afflictions 
of  the  present  state,  happy  instruments  to  prepare 
us  for  the  blessedness  above,  by  curing  all  our  vain 
and  carnal  desires?  Are  we  in  any  measure  imita- 
tors of  those  who  have  gone  before  us  through  faith 
and  patience,  and  are  made  possessors  of  the  promised 
joy?  Are  we  followers  of  God  as  dear  children? 
Have  we  the  image  of  our  heavenly  Father  created 
anew  in  us,  and  do  we  walk  as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
also  walked,  while  he  was  in  this  wilderness  travelling 
to  his  Father’s  house?  Are  our  earnest  desires  to- 
wards this  sort  of  felicity  excited  and  raised  high? 
Have  we  a strong  tendency  of  soul  to  the  holy  enjoy- 
ments of  the  upper  world?  Do  we  sigh  and  groan 
after  a complete  freedom  from  sin,  and  a deliverance 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


189 


from  every  temptation?  Do  we  employ  ourselves 
with  pleasure  in  the  work  and  business  of  heaven,  in 
the  holy  contemplation  of  God,  in  a delightful  survey 
of  the  person  and  offices  of  his  Son  Jesus,  his  won- 
drous condescension,  and  his  amazing  compassion? 
Do  we  take  pleasure  in  conversing  with  God  our 
Father  by  holy  addresses  of  praise  and  thankful- 
ness? Do  we  love  all  the  saints,  and  delight  in  their 
society,  and  do  we  rejoice  to  spend  our  time  with 
them  in  heavenly  conversation,  though  they  may  be 
amongst  the  lower  ranks  of  life  here  on  earth?  And 
do  we  diffuse  our  love  through  all  who  wear  the  image 
of  God,  and  take  a pleasing  satisfaction  of  soul  in 
their  increase  in  holiness,  and.  rejoice  in  their  joys? 

If  God  has  thus  fitted  thee,  O Christian,  in  this 
manner  for  the  mansions  of  the  happy  world,  then 
surely  he  has  set  thee  apart  for  himself,  he  has  be- 
gun eternal  life  in  thee,  the  dawn  of  eternal  glory  is 
risen  upon  thee,  and  he  will  bring  thee  into  the  com- 
plete noon  of  blessedness,  into  the  overflowing  light 
of  divine  beatitudes.  Arise  and  shine,  O Christian, 
for  thy  light  is  come,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen 
upon  thee:  thou  hast  no  need  to  ascend  into  heaven 
to  search  for  thy  evidences  among  the  decrees  of 
God,  and  to  pry  into  the  rolls  of  electing  grace;  for 
if  thou  hast  been  transformed  into  a heavenly  tem- 
per, thy  name  is  surely  written  in  the  Lamb’s  book 
of  life;  heaven  is  begun  within  thee,  and  God  will 
fulfil  his  own  work. 

Remark  2.  What  a solid  comfort  is  it  to  poor, 
mourning,  troubled,  afflicted  souls  under  all  their 
sorrows,  their  frailties,  their  temptations,  and  in- 
firmities here  on  earth,  that  they  have  a clear  evi- 
dence of  heaven  within  them.  This  is  such  a peace 
as  Jesus  Christ  left  to  his  disciples  by  legacy,  John 
xiv.  27.  Such  as  the  wrorld  cannot  give,  and  such 
as  the  world  cannot  take  away. 

This  is  a spring  of  constant  and  divine  consolation 


190  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

to  those  who  seem  to  be  worn  out  with  old  age  or 
infirmities  of  nature,  and  they  complain  they  are  fit 
for  no  service  in  this  world;  but  if  they  can  feel  in 
themselves  this  holy  fitness  for  the  enjoyments  of 
heaven,  they  have  a rich  and  living  fountain  of 
pleasure  in  their  own  breasts,  ever  springing,  ever 
flowing,  and  such  as  will  follow  them  with  daily 
supplies  of  pleasure,  if  they  are  not  wanting  to  them- 
selves, through  all  this  wilderness,  till  they  arrive 
at  that  land  where  all  the  rivers  of  blessing  meet  and 
join  in  a full  stream,  to  make  the  inhabitants  for  ever 
happy. 

It  may  be,  O Christian,  thou  art  afraid  that  thou 
hast  felt  but  little  of  this  divine  preparation;  thou 
seest  so  many  defects  in  thyself  daily,  so  much  un- 
likeness to  God,  so  much  working  of  iniquity,  such 
restless  efforts  of  the  body  of  sin,  so  much  prevalence 
of  temptation,  so  much  coldness  in  duty,  such  dead- 
ness in  acts  of  devotion,  such  frequent  returns  of  guilt 
and  pain  in  a tender  conscience,  and  so  many  enemies 
to  struggle  within  every  step  of  thy  way  to  heaven, 
that  thou  art  greatly  discouraged  and  afraid  this  di- 
vine preparation  is  not  wrought  in  thee.  Inquire  then 
yet  further,  are  all  these  melancholy  scenes  both  with- 
in and  without,  the  matter  of  thy  sincere  grief  and 
burden?  Canst  thou  say  in  this  tabernacle,  I groan, 
being  burdened  with  the  body  of  sin,  as  well  as  with 
the  frailties  and  pains  of  nature?  Canst  thou  say  sin- 
cerely, that  thy  inmost  desires  are  towards  God  and  his 
glory  in  the  present  life,  and  towards  his  enjoyment 
in  the  life  to  come?  Dost  thou  maintain  a constant 
converse  with  heaven  as  well  as  thou  canst,  though  it 
be  so  much  broken,  and  so  often  painfully  interrupt- 
ed? Hast  thou  a continual  and  settled  aversion  and 
hatred  to  sin,  and  a holy  jealousy  and  fear  of  its  defile- 
ments? Hast  thou  a restless  breathing  of  soul  after 
greater  likeness  to  God,  and  greater  communion  with 
him?  Dost  thou  delight  in  spiritual  and  holy  con- 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


191 


versation,  and  does  thy  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God  and 
his  Son  Jesus,  carry  thee  forth  to  those  actions  which 
are  suitable  to  thy  station,  for  the  advancement  of  reli- 
gion in  the  world  ? Be  assured  then  that  God  is  training 
thee  up  for  this  heavenly  state,  and  has  in  some  mea- 
sure prepared  thee  for  it.  God  has  begun  in  thee 
the  business  and  blessedness  of  the  upper  world.  In 
the  midst  of  all  thy  sorrows  and  complaints  here  be- 
low, peace  be  with  thee,  and  joy  in  the  Lord,  for  thy 
salvation  and  thy  felicity  shall  be  completed. 

Remark  3.  How  vain,  and  idle,  and  unreasonable 
are  all  the  hopes  of  sinners,  that  they  shall  ever  ar- 
rive at  heaven  without  any  preparation  for  it  here? 
There  is  nothing  divine  and  holy  begun  in  them  in 
this  world,  and  yet  they  hope  to  be  made  happy  in 
the  world  that  is  to  come;  there  is  nothing  of  true 
grace  wrought  in  their  hearts  here,  and  yet  they 
vainly  expect  to  be  made  perfect  in  pleasure  and 
glory  hereafter. 

Think  with  thyself,  O carnal  creature,  that  heaven 
will  be  a burden  to  thee;  the  powers,  the  appetites, 
and  passions  of  thy  sinful  nature,  will  not  suffer  thee 
to  relish  the  joys  of  the  heavenly  state.  Dost  thou 
imagine  that  a worm  or  serpent  of  the  earth,  or  a 
swine  which  is  ever  tumbling  in  the  mire,  can  be  en- 
tertained with  the  golden  ornaments  and  splendours 
of  a palace?  Or  will  the  stupid  ass  be  delighted  with 
the  harmony  of  the  harp  or  viol?  No  more  can  a 
soul  of  a carnal  and  sensual  taste,  and  which  is  ever 
seeking  and  grovelling  after  earthly  gratifications,  be 
pleased  or  gratified  with  the  refined  enjoyments  of 
the  heavenly  world.  Thou  must  have  a new  nature, 
new  appetites  and  affections,  ere  thou  canst  partake 
of  divine  joys,  or  relish  them  if  thou  wert  placed  in 
the  midst  of  them.  Holy  adoration  of  God,  and 
humble  converse  with  him  in  worship,  converse  with 
the  saints  about  divine  things,  perfect  purity  and  de- 
votion, with  the  meditation  of  the  excellencies  of 


192  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

Christ,  and  the  sight  of  him  in  his  ordinances,  have 
never  yet  been  the  object  of  thy  delight  or  joy : nay, 
they  have  rather  been  thine  aversion;  and  shonldst 
thou  have  the  gates  of  heaven  open  before  thee,  and 
see  what  business  the  holy  souls  there  are  employed 
in,  thou  would st  find  no  desire  to  such  sort  of  satis- 
factions; the  place  and  the  company  would  be  thy 
burden,  if  thou  couldst  be  let  at  once  into  the  midst 
of  them. 

Think  again,  O sinful  wretch,  thy  carnality  of 
soul,  thy  supreme  love  of  sensual  and  brutal  joys, 
the  secret  malice  or  envy,  the  pride  and  impiety  of 
thy  heart,  have  prepared  thee  for  another  sort  of 
company;  thou  art  fitted  for  hell  by  the  very  temper 
of  thy  spirit,  for  such  are  the  inhabitants  of  that 
miserable  world,  and  in  thy  present  state  there  can 
be  no  admission  for  thee  into  heaven.  Thou  hast 
treasured  up  food  for  the  worm  that  never  dies,  for  the 
eternal  anguish  of  conscience;  thou  hast  made  thy- 
self fit  fuel  by  indulgence  of  thy  sinful  and  re- 
bellious appetites  and  passions,  for  the  fiery  indig- 
nation of  God  ; and  every  day  thou  persistestin  this 
state,  thy  preparation  for  the  dark  regions  of  sin 
and  sorrow  is  increased.  But  this  leads  me  to  the 
last  remark. 

Remark  4.  Howt  dangerous  a thing  it  is  for  a sin- 
ner to  continue  a day  longer  in  a state  so  unprepared 
for  the  heavenly  world.  Dost  thou  not  know,  whilst 
we  are  inhabitants  in  these  regions  of  mortality,  we 
are  borderers  upon  death;  and  if  we  are  unprepared 
for  heaven,  we  are  borderers  upon  damnation  and 
hell?  Our  life  is  but  a vapour,  and  the  next  puff 
may  blow  us  away  into  the  regions  of  everlasting 
darkness,  misery,  and  despair. 

Alas!  how  much  of  this  divine  preparation  do 
the  best  of  saints  stand  in  need  of  for  an  immediate 
entrance  into  heaven?  What  care  do  they  take, 
how  constant  are  their  labours,  and  how  fervent 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


193 


their  prayers  to  increase  in  this  divine  fitness,  in  these 
holy  and  heavenly  qualifications!  and  dost  thou 
vainly  imagine  to  exchange  earth  for  heaven  at  once, 
and  to  be  received  into  the  pure  and  holy  mansions 
of  paradise,  without  any  conformity  to  God  or  Christ, 
or  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  world? 

Objection.  But  some  idle  and  slothful  creatures 
will  be  ready  to  object  and  say,  If  it  be  God  who 
creates  his  people  anew,  according  to  his  own  image, 
and  fits  them  for  heaven;  if  we  must  be  wrought 
up  by  his  power  and  grace  for  the  participation  of 
this  glory,  what  can  we  do  towards  it  ourselves? 
Or  why  are  we  charged  and  exhorted  to  prepare 
ourselves  for  heaven?  Since  then  it  is  God  must  do 
this  work,  why  may  we  not  lie  still,  and  wait  till  his 
grace  shall  prepare  us? 

I answer,  No,  by  no  means;  for  God  is  wont 
to  exert  his  grace  only  while  creatures  are  in  the 
use  of  his  appointments,  and  fulfil  their  duty.  This 
language  therefore,  and  these  excuses,  seem  to  be 
the  mere  cavils  of  a carnal  mind,  or  the  voice  of 
sloth  and  indolence.  Those  who  have  no  inclina 
tion  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  joys  of  the  heavenly 
state,  may  wait  and  expect  divine  influences  in  vain, 
if  they  will  never  stir  up  themselves  to  practise  what 
is  in  their  own  power,  or  to  attempt  what  the  gospel 
of  grace  demands. 

In  almost  all  the  transactions  of  God  with  men, 
it  is  the  way  of  his  wisdom  to  join  our  diligence  and 
his  grace  together;  and  there  are  many  scriptures 
that  give  us  sufficient  notice  of  this.  See  how  St. 
Paul  argues  with  the  Philippians,  and  stirs  them  up 
to  zeal  and  activity  in  securing  their  own  salvation 
by  the  hope  of  divine  assistances:  Phil.  ii.  12,  13: 
“Work  out  your  own  salvation,  for  it  is  God  that 
worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do.”  So  said 
David  to  his  son  Solomon,  when  he  appointed  him 
to  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  1 Chron.  xxviii.  20: 
18 


194 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  IIEAVEN. 


“Be  strong  and  of  good  courage,  and  do  it,  for  the 
Lord  God,  even  my  God,  will  be  with  thee,  and  will 
not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee,  till  thou  hast  finished 
all  the  work.”  This  was  the  charge  also  that  God 
gave  to  his  people  Israel,  Lev.  xx.  7:  “Sanctify 
yourselves,  and  be  ye  holy,  keep  my  statutes;  I am 
the  Lord  who  sanctify  you.5’  So  the  Psalmist  tells 
us,  Psal.  iv.  3:  “The  Lord  hath  set  apart,  (or  sepa- 
rated,) him  who  is  godly  for  himself;”  and  yet,  2 Cor. 
vi.  17:  The  Lord  commands  his  people  to  separate 
themselves  unto  him,  to  come  out  from  amongst  the 
sinners  of  this  world;  “and  be  you  separate,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  I will  receive  you.”  So  in  other  places  of 
scripture,  divine  wisdom  commands  sinners  to  fulfil 
their  duty,  Prov.  i.  23:  “Turn  ye  at  my  reproof:5’ 
and  yet  in  the  80th  Psalm,  the  church  prays,  “ Turn 
us,  O Lord,  and  we  shall  be  saved.”  The  case  is 
very  much  the  same  even  in  the  things  that  relate  to 
this  life,  wherein  divine  assistance  and  blessing  are 
connected  with  our  diligence  in  duty.  Solomon  tells 
us,  Prov.  x.  4:  “The  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh 
rich;”  and  yet  ver.  22,  “It  is  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  that  maketh  rich  also.”  We  can  never  expect 
the  favours  of  Heaven,  unless  we  are  zealous  to  obey 
the  commands  of  Heaven. 

When  the  sinful  children  of  men  are  found  wait- 
ing on  God  in  his  own  appointed  ordinances,  then 
they  are  in  the  fairest  way  to  receive  divine  commu- 
nications, and  to  be  transformed  into  saints.  If  the 
blind  man  had  not  obeyed  the  voice  of  Christ,  John 
ix.  7,  and  washed  himself  in  the  pool  of  Siloam,  he 
could  not  expect  to  have  received  his  eye-sight.  If 
the  man  with  the  withered  hand,  Matt.  xii.  10,  13, 
had  not  used  his  own  endeavours  to  stretch  forth  his 
hand  at  the  command  of  Christ,  I can  hardly  believe 
it  would  have  been  restored  to  its  ancient  vigour  and 
usefulness.  If  the  poor  impotent  creature  had  not 
been  waiting  at  the  side  of  the  pool  in  Bethesda,  John 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


195 


v.  he  had  not  met  with  the  blessed  Jesus,  nor  had  been 
healed  by  his  miraculous  power.  You  will  say,  per- 
haps, that  our  blessed  Saviour  could  have  visited  him 
in  his  own  house,  could  have  directed  his  journey  to- 
ward his  habitation,  or  have  sent  for  him  into  the  pub- 
lic, and  healed  him  there.  No:  our  Lord  did  not 
choose  either  of  these  ways;  but  while  the  man  was 
waiting  at  the  pool,  where  he  had  encouragement  to 
hope  for  a cure,  there  the  Lord  found  him,  and  heal- 
ed him. 

Let  not  any  presuming  sinner  therefore,  who  is 
sensible  of  his  own  unfitness  for  heaven,  dare  to  con- 
tinue in  a careless  indifference  about  so  important  a 
concern : let  him  not  put  off  his  own  conscience  with 
this  foolish  excuse,  It  is  God  must  do  ail  in  us  and  for 
ns,  and  therefore  I will  do  nothing  myself  Dost  thou 
think,  O soul,  that  this  will  be  a sufficient  answer  to 
him  that  shall  judge  thee  in  the  great  and  solemn  day? 
May  you  not  expect  to  hear  the  J udge  reply  terri  bly  to 
such  an  excuse,  “You  never  sought  after  this  prepa- 
ration for  heaven,  and  you  must  be  plunged  into  hell, 
for  which  your  own  rebellion  and  slothfulness  have 
prepared  you.” 

But  perhaps  you  will  object  again,  what  can  so  fee- 
ble, so  sinful  a creature  as  I am,  do  towards  this  divine 
work  ? 

I answer,  canst  thou  not  separate  one  quarter  of  an 
hour  daily  to  think  of  thy  dreadful  circumstances,  and 
thine  eternal  danger  in  a sinful  and  defiled  state  of 
soul?  Think  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  how  sud- 
den thy  summons  may  be  into  the  eternal  and  un- 
changeable state.  Survey  thyself  in  thy  sinful  condi- 
tion both  of  heart  and  life,  and  see  how  unfit  thou  art 
for  the  company  of  all  the  holy  ones  above.  Meditate 
on  these  thy  perilous  circumstances,  till  thy  heart  be 
deeply  affected  therewith;  fall  down  before  God  in 
humble  acknowledgment  of  thy  former  guilt  and  pol- 
lutions; give  up  thyself  to  him  with  holy  solemnity, 


196  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

to  have  the  heart  turned  away  from  every  sin,  and 
strongly  inclined  to  holiness  and  heaven.  Commit 
thy  soul,  guilty  and  defiled  as  it  is,  into  the  hands  of 
Jesus  the  Mediator;  intrust  thy  case  with  him  as  an 
all-sufficient  Saviour;  entreat  that  he  would  cleanse 
thee  from  all  thy  guilt  and  pollution,  by  the  blood 
of  his  sacrifice,  and  the  grace  of  his  Spirit;  that 
blood  of  atonement  which  has  procured  for  sinners 
pardon  and  peace  with  God,  and  those  operations 
of  his  grace  which  may  sanctify  thy  sinful  nature. 
Address  thyself  to  the  exalted  Saviour  for  healing 
influences  from  his  hand  to  cure  all  the  maladies  of 
thy  soul,  to  form  thee  after  his  image,  and  to  make 
thee  a son  of  God.  Pray  with  holy  importunity 
for  this  necessary  and  divine  blessing,  wait  on  God 
in  secret  and  in  public;  give  him  no  rest  night  or 
day  till  he  has  renewed  thy  soul,  and  transformed 
thee  into  a new  creature,  and  given  thee  a relish  of 
the  heavenly  enjoyments:  dwell  at  the  throne  of 
grace  till  thou  feelest  thy  heart  drawn  upward  and 
heavenward,  and  watch  against  every  thing  that 
would  defile  thy  soul  anew,  or  make  thee  unfit  to 
enter  into  the  company  of  the  blessed. 

Permit  me  here  to  dwell  a little  upon  those  motives 
that  should  awaken  thee  to  bethink  thyself  ere  it  be 
too  late,  before  the  grave  has  shut  its  mouth  upon 
thee,  and  thou  art  consigned  to  the  place  of  eternal 
misery.  . Awake,  awake,  O impenitent  sinners,  who 
are  as  yet  unprepared  for  the  business  and  blessed- 
ness of  the  heavenly  state;  awake  and  exert  your 
souls  in  warmest  reflections  on  matters  of  infinite  im- 
portance. 

(1.)  Think  with  yourselves  how  much  the  great 
God  has  done  towards  the  preparation  of  sinful  men 
for  this  heaven;  think  seriously  of  his  long-suffering 
goodness,  and  his  sparing  mercy,  which  should  have 
led  you  long  ago  to  a melting  sense  of  your  own 
folly,  and  brought  you  back  unto  him  by  humble 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


197 


repentance.  For  what  reason  were  his.  patience 
and  his  long-suffering  exercised  towards  you,  if  not 
for  this  very  purpose?  Rom.  ii.  4.  Think  of  the 
blessings  of  nature  with  which  he  has  surrounded 
you,  and  the  comforts  of  this  life  wherewith  he  has 
furnished  you,  in  order  to  allure  your  thoughts  to- 
wards him,  who  is  the  spring  of  all  goodness;  and  to 
raise  your  desires  towards  him:  it  is  he  invites  you, 
who  will  be  the  everlasting  portion  and  happiness 
of  his  people,  and  in  whose  favour  consists  life  and 
felicity;  and  dare  not  any  longer  neglect  your  pre- 
paration for  this  happiness,  which  consists  in  the 
enjoyment  of  God,  lest  you  should  be  cut  off  before 
you  are  prepared. 

(2.)  Consider  again  what  Jesus  the  Son  of  God 
has  done  and  suffered,  and  consider  what  he  is  yet 
doing  towards  the  preparation  of  souls  for  heaven: 
he  came  down  to  our  world  to  undertake  the  glorious 
and  dreadful  work  of  the  redemption  of  sinners  from 
the  curse  of  the  law  and  the  terrors  of  hell,  and  to 
procure  a heaven  for  every  rebellious  creature  that 
would  return  to  God  his  Father.  Think  of  the  ago- 
nies of  his  death  with  which  he  purchased  mansions 
of  glory  for  those  that  receive  his  grace  in  his  own 
appointed  methods,  those  that  are  willing  to  have 
their  hearts  and  minds  formed  into  a suitable  frame 
to  receive  this  felicity.  Remember  that  he  is  risen 
from  the  dead,  he  is  ascended  to  prepare  a place  in 
glory  for  those  that  are  willing  to  follow  him  through 
the  paths  of  holiness.  Hearken  to  the  many  kind 
invitations  and  allurements  of  his  gospel,  which  calls 
to  the  worst  of  sinners  to  return  and  live,  and  entreats 
and  exhorts  those  who  are  in  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
and  upon  the  borders  of  hell,  “to  look  unto  him 
that  they  may  be  saved,”  Isa.  xlv.  22.  Take  heed 
that  you  suffer  not  these  seasons  of  his  inviting  love 
to  slide  away  and  vanish  unimproved;  take  heed 
how  you  rebel  against  the  language  of  the  grace  of 

18* 


198  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

his  gospel,  and  thereby  prepare  yourselves  for  double 
and  everlasting  destruction. 

(3.)  Think  again,  what  blessed  assistances  he  has 
proposed  to  those  who  are  desirous  to  be  trained  up 
for  heaven;  how  many  thousand  souls,  as  carnal,  as 
sensual,  and  as  criminal  as  yours  are,  have  been  re- 
covered by  the  word  of  his  gospel,  and  the  influences 
of  his  Spirit,  to  a new  nature  and  life  of  holiness? 
How  many  are  there  who  from  children  of  wrath, 
have  become  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Most 
High  God,  heirs  of  this  blessedness,  and  prepared 
for  the  enjoyment  of  it?  O take  heed  that  you  re- 
sist not  his  grace,  nor  rebel  against  the  kind  and 
sacred  motions  of  the  blessed  Spirit  within  you, 
when  his  very  offlce  and  business  is  to  change  your 
sinful  natures,  and  to  prepare  you  for  the  regions  of 
eternal  holiness  and  peace. 

(4.)  Think  yet  further  what  advantages  you  have 
had  from  the  weekly  ministrations  of  the  word  of 
grace,  from  reading  the  book  of  God  in  your  own 
language,  and  from  the  pious  education  many  of 
you  have  enjoyed  in  the  families  from  whence  you 
sprung.  Think  what  awakening  hints  you  have 
received  by  the  inward  conviction  of  your  own  con- 
sciences, and  by  the  Christian  friends  you  may  have 
conversed  with:  have  you  not  been  told  plainly 
enough  by  the  voice  of  conscience,  that  you  are  now 
utterly  unprepared  for  heaven?  Have  not  public  and 
private  admonitions  given  you  sufficient  warning  of 
the  danger  of  your  present  state?  And  after  all  this 
will  you  proceed  in  your  sinful  course  till  you  arrive 
at  the  very  gates  of  hell  and  destruction,  till  you 
have  prepared  yourselves,  and  made  your  souls  ripe 
for  the  vengeance  of  God,  and  are  plunged  into  it  by 
death  without  remedy  or  relief? 

(5.)  Consider  how  dreadful  will  your  state  be 
if  death  meet  you  in  all  your  guilt  and  defilements, 
unwashed,  unpardoned,  and  unsanctified,  without 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  199 

any  garment  of  righteousness,  without  any  robe  of 
salvation.  What  a terrible  sentence  is  that  which 
death  will  pronounce  upon  every  such  sinner  the 
moment  that  he  strikes  their  heart?  Hear  it,  and 
tremble,  O miserable  creature,  hear  the  formidable 
and  eternal  sentence,  Let  him  that  is  unholy  be  un- 
holy still:  let  him  that  is  unprepared  for  heaven  go 
down  to  the  regions  of  death  and  hell,  for  which  his 
iniquities  have  best  prepared  him. 

(6.)  Think  with  yourselves,  if  you  have  any  thing 
of  importance  to  do  in  this  world,  or  have  any  mo- 
mentous scene  of  life  to  pass  through,  how  diligent 
are  you  in  preparation  for  it.  If  you  are  but  to 
visit  the  court  of  a prince,  or  go  to  make  your  ad- 
dresses to  any  great  man  of  honour  and  power,  or 
to  be  admitted  into  any  numerous  society  of  a su- 
perior character,  how  diligently  do  you  endeavour 
to  furnish  yourselves  with  such  knowledge  of  the 
common  ceremonies  of  life,  and  such  ornaments 
about  your  body  as  may  render  you  acceptable 
amongst  those  whom  you  are  going  to  converse  with: 
and  does  not  an  entrance  into  the  court  of  heaven, 
into  the  presence  of  a God  of  holiness,  and  into 
the  society  of  pure  and  blessed  spirits  require  some 
solicitude  and  care  about  those  ornaments  and 
qualifications  which  are  necessary  for  so  solemn 
and  glorious  an  appearance?  If  you  are  designing 
in  this  life  to  commence  any  trade  or  business  for 
your  employment  and  your  support,  you  are  willing 
to  serve  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  in  order 
to  a preparation  for  the  exercise  of  this  public  busi- 
ness; and  can  you  not  afford  one  day  in  a week  to 
learn  the  business  of  heaven,  and  to  prepare  for  the 
blessedness  of  it? 

And  let  parents  also  consider  with  themselves 
what  pains  they  have  taken  that  their  children  may 
be  fit  for  the  trades  and  employments  of  life  to 
which  they  design  them,  and  then  let  each  inquire 


200 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


of  their  own  consciences,  Have  I ever  done  so  much 
to  train  up  my  son  for  the  heavenly  world,  to  fit  him 
for  the  appearance  before  God,  and  saints  and  angels, 
and  for  all  the  unknown  services  of  that  celestial 
country? 

(7.)  Go  on  yet  farther,  O impenitent  sinners,  and 
consider  with  yourselves  what  a blessedness  it  is  to 
be  prepared  for  heaven ; for  then  you  are  prepared 
for  death,  and  at  once  you  take  away  all  the  terrors 
of  it.  O what  an  unspeakable  happiness  is  it  to  pass 
through  this  world  daily  without  the  fear  of  dying? 
What  is  it  that  makes  life  so  bitter  to  multitudes  of 
souls,  and  every  malady  or  accident  so  frightful  to 
them,  but  the  perpetual  terrors  of  death?  Think 
what  a divine  satisfaction  it  is  to  walk  up  and  down 
in  this  desert  land,  ready  prepared  for  an  entrance 
into  the  land  of  promise,  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light:  think  of  the  solid  joy  and  inward  consola- 
tion of  those  souls  who  feel  in  themselves  an  habitual 
readiness  for  a departure  hence,  and  who  are  wrought 
up  by  divine  grace  to  a preparation  for  the  business 
and  the  joys  above.  Think  of  the  victory  over  death, 
which  is  obtained  by  such  a readiness  for  heaven, 
and  how  glorious  a thing  it  is  to  meet  that  last  enemy 
the  king  of  terrors,  and  encounter  him  without  fear, 
and  to  triumph  over  him  with  divine  language,  O 
death,  where  is  thy  sting?  How  joyful  a scene  would 
it  be  to  take  leave  of  ail  our  friends  in  this  land  of 
mortality,  with  an  assured  hope  that  we  are  entering 
into  a happier  climate  and  a better  country,  ready 
prepared  for  all  the  more  glorious  scenes  that  shall 
meet  us  in  the  invisible  world. 

It  is  an  amazing  thing  to  me  how  the  children  of 
men,  who  are  dying  daily  from  off  this  stage  of  life, 
who  must  all  shortly  die,  and  enter  into  the  world  of 
eternal  futurity,  should  be  no  more  concerned  about 
a preparation  for  their  departure  hence : that  they 
should  be  so  stupidly  thoughtless  of  a world  to  come, 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  201 

while  they  are  on  the  very  borders  of  it,  and  eternal 
joy  or  eternal  sorrow  depends  upon  this  one  question, 
Am  I prepared  for  heaven  or  not?  O those  two  aw- 
ful regions  of  the  unseen  world  ! where  the  love  of 
God  shines  with  its  brightest  glories,  or  where  the 
vengeance  of  God  is  discovered  in  all  its  anguish  and 
horror  ! One  of  these  will  be  the  certain  and  eternal 
dwelling-place  of  the  souls  that  are  prepared  for  them, 
and  there  must  they  pass  their  long  immortality,  ei- 
ther in  joy,  or  in  sorrow,  without  a change;  and  yet 
the  foolish  and  besotted  tribes  of  mankind  seem  to 
have  abandoned  all  thought  and  concern  about  them. 
A dangerous  lethargy,  or  distraction  ! 

What  shall  we  do  to  cure  sinners  of  this  mad- 
ness? Shall  I try  to  rouse  these  indolent  unthinking 
wretches  out  of  their  dangerous  and  mortal  slumbers 
with  the  loudest  voice  of  thunder  and  divine  terror? 
But  the  lethargy  of  sin  is  proof  against  all  these  ter- 
rors and  thunders.  Shall  I call  for  a fountain  of 
tears  into  my  eyes,  and  weep  over  them  with  the 
tenderest  sympathy  and  compassion?  But  they  feel 
not  any  meltings  of  pity  for  themselves,  nor  are  their 
hearts  to  be  softened  by  all  our  fears  and  wailings. 
Shall  I beseech  them  in  the  name  of  Christ,  by  the 
bowels  of  his  dying  love,  and  the  blood  and  anguish 
of  his  sufferings  for  our  salvation?  But  even  these 
divine  and  astonishing  instances  of  tenderness  and 
mercy  make  no  impression  on  tlieir  souls.  While 
Satan  holds  them  in  his  chains,  they  are  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  death.  O for  a word  of  sovereign  and  al- 
mighty grace  to  reach  the  centre  of  their  spirits ! 
To  shake  all  the  powers  of  their  nature  ! To  awaken 
them  to  behold  their  eternal  interest!  and  to  prepare 
for  heavenly  felicity.  Awake,  O sleepers,  ere  the 
angel  of  death  seize  you,  and  the  grave  shut  its 
mouth  upon  you  ; then  all  your  seasons  and  hopes 
of  mercy  are  cut  off  for  ever,  and  you  will  awake 
hopeless  immortals. 

I shall  conclude  this  discourse  with  one  word  of 


202  A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

exhortation  to  those  who  are  in  any  measure  wrought 
up  to  a preparation  for  the  heavenly  blessedness. 
O happy  creatures!  whatsoever  pains  you  have 
taken,  whatever  conflicts  you  have  endured  in  the 
matter  of  your  own  salvation,  yet  let  God  and  his 
grace  have  all  the  honour  of  this  work.  It  is  to  God 
you  owe  your  sacrifices  of  praise.  He  that  hath 
wrought  you  up  for  this  felicity  is  God.  It  was  he 
who  awakened  you  first,  and  set  you  a thinking 
of  your  most  important  concerns : it  was  he  that  led 
you  first  into  the  way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ 
his  Son,  and  hath  thus  far  crowned  your  labours  and 
your  prayers  with  success  and  blessing.  Every 
stumbling-block  in  your  way  might  have  thrown 
you  down  to  perdition  : every  temptation  might  have 
turned  you  back  from  this  glorious  pursuit:  every 
enemy  of  your  souls  might  have  discouraged  or  over- 
come, if  God  and  his  grace  had  not  been  engaged  on 
your  side. 

It  is  he  hath  upheld  you  when  you  were  falling, 
he  hath  taken  you  by  the  hand  and  led  you  right  on- 
ward when  you  were  wandering,  and  he  hath  sup- 
ported you  by  his  divine  cordials  of  promise  when 
you  were  fainting.  It  is  God  who  hath  enabled  you 
to  maintain  your  conflict  with  all  the  mighty  ob- 
stacles of  your  faith  and  hope ; it  is  his  grace  hath  re- 
newed your  nature,  hath  weaned  you  from  this  vain 
flattering  world,  and  given  you  a sacred  relish  of  di- 
vine blessedness.  It  is  he  who  hath  formed  you  again 
after  his  own  image,  and  hath  trained  you  up,  and 
made  you  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light.  Call  up  all  your  powers  to  praise  his  good- 
ness, and  say,  ‘4  Bless  the  Lord,  O my  soul,  arid  all 
that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy  name:  bless  the 
Lord  for  ever,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits.  It  is 
God  who  hath  called  me  out  of  darkness  into  his 
marvellous  light,  and  given  me  to  see  the  things  that 
belong  to  my  everlasting  peace.  It  is  God  who 
washed  away  my  iniquities  in  the  bipod  of  his  own 


A SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 


203 


Son,  and  hath  renewed  me  to  holiness  by  his  blessed 
Spirit.  It  is  God  who  hath  taken  me  out  of  the  fa- 
mily of  sin  and  Satan,  and  given  me  a place  among 
his  children;  who  hath  begun  to  prepare  me  for  the 
joys  and  blessings  of  heaven,  and  in  his  own  time  he 
will  fulfil  all  my  hopes,  and  complete  my  felicity.5’ 
Walk  before  him  with  all  holy  care  and  watchfulness, 
and  take  heed  that  you  lose  not  the  things  which  you 
have  wrought,  nor  the  things  which  God  has  wrought 
in  you,  but  that  persevering  to  the  end  you  may  re- 
ceive the  full  reward,  and  obtain  the  crown  of 
everlasting  life.  Amen. 


. 


/ 


A 


DISCOURSE  IX. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


Rev.  xxi.  4. 

Neither  shall  there  he  any  more  pain . 

There  have  been  some  divines  in  ancient  times, 
as  well  as  in  our  present  age,  who  suppose  this  pro- 
phecy relates  to  some  glorious  and  happy  event  here 
on  earth,  wherein  the  saints  and  faithful  followers  of 
Christ  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  and  mi- 
series to  which  they. have  been  exposed  in  all  for- 
mer ages,  and  shall  enjoy  the  blessing  which  these 
words  promise.  Among  these  writers  some  have 
placed  this  happy  state  before  the  resurrection  of  the 
body ; others  make  it  to  belong  to  that  first  resurrec- 
tion which  is  spoken  of  in  Rev.  xx.  6.  But  let  this 
prophecy  have  a particular  aspect  upon  what  earthly 
period  soever,  yet  all  must  grant  it  is  certainly  true 
concerning  the  heavenly  state;  from  whose  felicities, 
taken  in  the  literal  sense,  these  figurative  expressions 
are  derived  to  foretell  the  happiness  of  any  period  of 
the  church  in  this  world ; and  in  this  sense,  as  part 
of  our  happiness  in  heaven,  I shall  understand  the 
words  here,  and  propose  them  as  the  foundation  for 
my  present  discourse. 

19 


206  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

Among  the  many  things  that  make  this  life  un- 
comfortable, and  render  mankind  unhappy  here  be- 
low, this  is  one  that  has  a large  influence,  viz.  that 
in  this  mortal  state  we  are  all  liable  to  pain,  from 
which  we  shall  be  perfectly  delivered  in  the  life  to 
come.  The  Greek  word  which  is  here  translated 
pain,  signifies  also  toil  and  fatigue,  and  excessive 
labour  of  the  body,  as  well  as  anguish  and  vexation 
of  the  spirit:  but  since  in  the  two  other  places  of  the 
New  Testament  where  it  is  used,  the  word  most 
properly  signifies  the  pain  of  the  body,  I presume  to 
understand  it  chiefly  in  this  sense  also  in  my  text. 

I need  not  spend  time  in  explaining  what  pain  is 
to  persons  who  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood : there  is  not 
one  of  you  in  this  assembly  but  is  better  acquainted 
with  the  nature  of  it  by  the  sense  of  feeling,  than  it 
is  possible  for  the  wisest  philosopher  to  inform  you 
by  all  his  learned  language.  Yet  that  I may  pro- 
ceed regularly,  I would  just  give  you  this  short  de- 
scription of  it.  Pain  is  an  uneasy  perception  of  the 
soul,  occasioned  by  some  indisposition  of  the  body 
to  which  it  is  united;  whether  this  arise  from  some 
disorder  or  malady  in  the  flesh  itself,  or  from  some 
injury  received  from  without  by  wounds,  bruises,  or 
any  thing  of  the  like  kind.  Now  this  sort  of  uneasy 
sensations  is  not  to  be  found  or  feared  in  heaven. 

In  order  to  make  our  present  meditations  on  this 
part  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven  useful  and  joyful 
to  us  while  we  are  here  on  earth,  let  us  inquire, 

I.  What  are  the  evils  or  grand  inconveniences 
that  generally  flow  from  the  pains  we  suffer  here; 
and  as  we  go  we  shall  survey  the  satisfactions  which 
arise  by  our  freedom  from  them  all  in  heaven. 

II.  What  just  and  convincing  proofs  may  be  given 
that  there  are  no  such  uneasy  sensations  to  be  felt  in 
heaven,  or  to  be  feared  after  this  life. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  207 

III.  What  are  the  chief  reasons  or  designs  of  the 
blessed  God  in  sending  pain  on  his  creatures  in  this 
world;  and  at  the  same  time  I shall  show  that  pain 
is  banished  from  the  heavenly  state,  because  God 
has  no  such  designs  remaining  to  be  accomplished 
in  that  world. 

IV.  What  lessons  we  may  learn  from  the  painful 
discipline  which  we  feel  while  we  are  here,  in  order 
to  show  there  is  no  need  of  such  discipline  to  teach 
us  those  lessons  in  heaven.  Let  us  address  ourselves 
to  make  these  four  inquiries  in  their  order. 

SECTION  I. 

First.  What  are  the  evils  which  flow  from  pain, 
and  usually  attend  it  in  this  life;  and  all  along  as  we 
go  we  shall  take  a short  view  of  the  heavenly  state, 
where  we  shall  be  released  from  all  these  evils,  and 
inconveniences. 

1.  Pain  has  a natural  tendency  to  make  the  mind 
sorrowful  as  well  as  the  body  uheasy.  Our  souls 
are  so  nearly  united  to  flesh  and  blood,  that  it  is  not 
possible  for  the  mind  to  possess  perfect  happiness 
and  ease,  while  the  body  is  exposed  to  so  many  occa- 
sions of  pain.  It  is  granted,  that  natural  courage 
and  strength  of  heart  rhay  prevail  in  some  persons 
to  bear  up  their  spirits  under  long  and  intense  pains 
of  the  flesh,  yet  they  really  take  away  so  much  of  the 
ease  and  pleasure  of  life,  while  any  of  us  lie  under 
the  acute  sensations  of  them.  Pain  will  make  us 
confess  that  we  are  flesh  and  blood,  and  force  us  some- 
times to  cry  out'and  groan.  Even  a stoic,  in  spite 
of  all  the  pride  of  his  philosophy,  will  sometimes  be 
forced,  by  a sigh  or  groan,  to  confess  himself  a man. 
What  are  the  greatest  part  of  the  groans  and  out- 
cries that  are  heard  all  around  this  our  globe  of  earth 
but  the  effects  of  pain,  either  felt  or  feared? 


208  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

But  in  heaven,  where  there  is  no  pain,  there  shall 
be  no  sighing  or  groaning,  nor  any  more  crying,  as 
my  text  expresses.  There  shall  be  nothing  to  make 
the  flesh  or  the  spirit  uneasy,  and  to  break  the 
eternal  thread  of  peace  and  pleasure  that  runs 
through  the  whole  duration  of  the  saints:  not  one 
painful  moment  to  interrupt  the  everlasting  felicity 
of  that  state.  When  we  have  done  with  earth  and 
mortality,  we  have  done  also  with  sickness  and  an- 
guish of  nature,  and  with  all  sorrow  and  vexation  for 
ever.  There  are  no  groans  in  the  heavenly  world 
to  break  in  upon  the  harmony  of  the  harps  and  the 
songs  of  the  blessed ; no  sighs,  no  outcries,  no  an- 
guish there  to  disturb  the  music  and  the  joy  of  the 
inhabitants.  And  though  the  soul  shall  be  united 
to  the  body  new-raised  from  the  dead,  to  dwell  for 
ever  in  union,  yet  that  new-raised  body  shall  have 
neither  any  springs  of  pain  in  it,  nor  be  capable  of 
giving  anguish  or  uneasiness  to  the  indwelling  spirit 
for  ever. 

2.  Another  evil  which  attends  on  pain  is  this,  that 
it  so  indisposes  our  nature,  as  often  to  unfit  us  for  the 
businesses  and  duties  of  the  present  state.  With 
how  much  coldness  and  indifference  do  we  go  about 
our  daily  work,  and  perform  it  too  with  many  inter- 
ruptions, when  nature  is  burdened  with  continual 
pain,  and  the  vital  springs  of  action  are  overborne 
with  perpetual  uneasiness?  What  a listlessness  do  we 
find  to  many  of  the  duties  of  religion  at  such  a season, 
unless  it  be  to  run  more  frequently  to  the  throne  of 
God,  and  pour  out  our  groanings  and  our  complaints 
there?  Groanings  and  cries  are  the  language  of 
nature,  and  the  children  of  God  address  themselves 
in  this  language  to  their  heavenly  Father:  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  our  gracious  God,  who  hears  every 
secret  sigh,  who  is  acquainted  with  the  sense  of  every 
groan,  while  we  mourn  before  him,  and  make  our 
complaints  to  him,  that  we  cannot  worship  him,  nor 


NO  PAlN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  209 

work  for  him  as  we  would  do,  because  of  the  anguish 
and  maladies  of  nature. 

And  what  an  indisposition  and  backwardness  do 
we  feel  in  ourselves  to  fulfil  many  of  the  duties  to- 
wards our  fellow-creatures  while  we  ourselves  are 
under  present  smart  and  anguish?  Pain  will  so  sen- 
sibly affect  self,  as  to  d raw  off  all  our  thoughts  thither, 
and  centre  them  there,  that  we  cannot  so  much 
employ  our  cares  and  our  active  powers  for  the 
benefit  of  our  neighbours:  it  abates  our  concern  for 
our  friends,  and  while  it  awakens  the  spirit  within 
us  to  keen  sensations,  it  takes  away  the  activity  of 
the  man  that  feels  it  from  almost  all  the  services  of 
human  life.  When  human  nature  bears  so  much,  it 
can  act  but  little. 

But  what  a blessed  state  will  that  be  when  we 
shall  never  feel  this  indisposition  to  duties,  either 
human  or  divine,  through  any  uneasiness  of  the 
body?  When  we  shall  never  more  be  subject  to 
any  of  these  painful  impediments,  but  for  ever  cast 
off  ail  those  clogs  and  burdens  which  fetter  the  active 
powers  of  the  soul?  Then  we  shall  be  joyfully  em- 
ployed in  such  unknown  and  glorious  services  to 
God  our  Father,  and  to  the  blessed  Jesus,  as  require 
much  superior  capacities  to  what  we  here  possess, 
and  shall  find  no  weakness,  no  weariness,  no  pain 
throughout  all  the  years  of  our  immortality,  Rev. 
vii.  15.  None  of  the  blessed  above  are  at  rest  or 
idle,  either  day  or  night,  but  they  serve  him  in 
his  temple,  and  never  cease,  chap.  iv.  8.  No  faint- 
ness, no  languors  are  known  there.  The  inhabitants 
of  that  land  “shall  not  say,  I am  sick:”  everlasting 
vigour,  cheerfulness  and  ease  shall  render  every 
blessed  soul  for  ever  zealous  and  active  in  obedience, 
as  the  angels  are  in  heaven. 

3.  Pain  unfits  us  for  the  enjoyments  of  life,  as 
wdi  as  for  the  labours  and  duties  of  it.  It  takes 
away  all  the  pleasing  satisfactions  which  might 

19* 


210 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


attend  our  circumstances,  and  renders  the  objects  of 
them  insipid  and  unrelishing.  What  pleasure  can 
a rich  man  take  in  all  the  affluence  of  earthly  bless- 
ings around  him,  while  some  painful  distemper  holds 
him  upon  the  rack,  and  distresses  him  with  the  tor- 
ture? How  little  delight  can  he  find  in  meats  or  in 
drinks  which  are  prepared  for  luxury,  when  sharp 
pain  calls  all  his  attention  to  the  diseased  part? 
What  joy  can  he  find  in  magnificent  buildings,  in 
gay  and  shining  furniture,  in  elegant  gardens,  or  in 
all  the  glittering  treasures  of  the  Indies,  when  the 
gout  torments  his  hands  and  his  feet,  or  the  rheuma- 
tism afflicts  his  limbs  with  intense  anguish  ? If  pain 
attacks  any  part  of  the  body,  and  rises  to  a high  de- 
gree, the  luxuries  of  life  grow  tasteless,  and  life  itself 
is  imbittered  to  us;  or  when  pains  less  acute  are 
prolonged  through  weeks  and  months,  and  perhaps 
stick  in  our  flesh  all  the  night  as  well  as  in  the  day, 
how  vain  and  feeble  are  all  the  efforts  of  the  bright 
and  gay  things  around  us  to  raise  the  soul  into  cheer- 
fulness! Therefore  Solomon  calls  old  age  the  years 
‘‘wherein  there  is  no  pleasure,”  Eccles.  xii.  1.  Be- 
cause so  many  aches  and  ails  in  that  season  pursue 
us  in  a continual  succession;  so  many  infirmities 
and  painful  hours  attend  us  usually  in  that  stage 
of  life,  even  in  the  best  situation  that  mortality 
can  boast  of,  as  cuts  off  and  destroys  all  our  plea- 
sures. 

But  O what  a wondrous,  what  a joyful  change 
shall  that  be,  when  the  soul  is  commanded  to  forsake 
this  flesh  and  blood,  when  it  rises  as  on  the  wings  of 
angels  to  the  heavenly  world,  and  leaves  every  pain 
behind  it,  together  with  the  body,  in  the  arms  of 
death?  and  what  a more  illustrious  and  delightful 
change  shall  we  meet  in  the  great  rising-day  when 
our  bodies  shall  start  up  out  of  the  dust  with  vigorous 
immortality,  and  without  any  spring  or  seat  of  pain! 
All  the  unknown  enjoyments  with  which  heaven  is 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  211 

furnished  shall  be  taken  in  by  the  enlarged  powers 
of  the  soul  with  intense  pleasure,  and  not  a moment’s 
pain  shall  ever  interrupt  them. 

4.  Another  inconvenience  and  evil  which  belongs 
to  pain  is,  that  it  makes  time  and  life  itself  appear 
tedious  and  tiresome,  and  adds  a new  burden  to  all 
other  grievances.  Many  evidences  of  this  truth  are 
scattered  throughout  all  nature,  and  on  all  sides  of 
this  globe.  There  is  not  one  age  of  mankind  but 
can  furnish  us  with  millions  of  instances.  In  what 
melancholy  language  does  Job  discover  his  sensations 
of  the  tiresome  nature  of  pain?  “I  am  made  to  pos- 
sess months  of  vanity,  and  wearisome  nights  are 
appointed  to  me:  When  I lie  down  I say,  When 
shall  I rise  and  the  night  be  gone?  And  I am  full 
of  tossing  to  and  fro  unto  the  dawning  of  the  day,” 
Job  vii.  3.  When  pain  takes  hold  of  our  flesh,  it 
seems  to  stretch  the  measures  of  time  to  a tedious 
length:  we  cry  out,  as  Moses  expresses  it,  Deut. 
xxviii.  67:  “In  the  morning  we  say,  Would  to 
God  it  were  evening;  and  at  the  return  of  the 
evening  we  say  again,  Would  to  God  it  were 
morning.” 

Long  are  those  hours  indeed,  whether  of  day-light 
or  darkness,  wherein  there  is  no  relief  or  intermission 
of  acute  pain.  How  tiresome  a thing  is  it  to  count 
the  clock  at  midnight  in  long  successions,  and  to 
wait  every  hour  for  the  distant  approach  of  morning, 
while  our  eyes  are  unable  to  close  themselves  in 
slumber,  and  our  anguish  admits  not  the  common 
refuge  of  sleep.  There  are  multitudes  among  the 
race  of  mortals  who  have  known  these  truths  by 
sore  experience.  Blessed  be  God  that  we  do  not 
always  feel  them ! 

But  when  we  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  heavenly 
world,  where  there  is  no  pain,  there  we  shall  find  no 
weary  hours,  no  tedious  days,  though  eternity  with 
all  its  unmeasurable  lengths  of  duration  lies  before 


212 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


•as.  What  a dismal  thought  is  eternal  pain?  The 
very  mention  of  it  makes  nature  shudder  and  stand 
aghast;  but  futurity  with  all  its  endless  years,  in 
a land  of  peace  and  pleasure,  gives  the  soul  the  most 
delightful  prospect;  for  there  is  no  shadow  of  un- 
easiness in  that  state  to  render  our  abode  there  tire- 
some, or  to  think  the  ages  of  it  long. 

5.  Another  evil  that  belongs  to  pain  is,  that  it  has 
an  unhappy  tendency  to  ruffle  the  passions,  and  to 
render  us  fretful  and  peevish  within  ourselves,  as  well 
as  towards  those  who  are  round  about  us.  Even 
the  kindest  and  the  tenderest  hand  that  ministers  to 
our  relief,  can  hardly  secure  itself  from  the  peevish 
quarrels  of  a man  in  extreme  pain. 

Not  that  we  are  to  suppose  that  this  peevish  humour, 
this  fretfulness  of  spirit,  are  thereby  made  innocent 
and  perfectly  excused:  no,  by  no  means;  but  it 
must  be  acknowledged  still  that  continuance  in  pain 
is  too  ready  to  work  up  the  spirit  into  frequent  dis- 
quietude and  eagerness:  we  are  tempted  to  fret  at 
every  thing,  we  quarrel  with  every  thing,  we  grow 
impatient  under  every  delay,  angry  with  our  best 
friends,  sharp  and  sudden  in  our  resentments,  with 
wrathful  speeches  breaking  out  of  our  lips. 

This  peevish  humour  in  a day  of  pain  is  so- com- 
mon a fault,  that  I fear  it  is  too  much  excused  and 
indulged.  Let  me  rather  say  with  myself,  “My 
God  is  now  putting  me  to  the  trial  what  sort  of  Chris- 
tian lam,  and  how  much  I have  learned  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  through  his  grace  I will  subdue  my  un- 
easy passions,  though  I cannot  relieve  my  pain.’’ 
O it  is  a noble  point  of  honour  gained  in  a sick 
chamber,  or  on  a bed  of  anguish,  to  lie  pressed  with 
extreme  pain,  and  yet  maintain  a serenity  and  calm- 
ness of  soul;  to  be  all  meekness  and  gentleness  and 
patience  among  our  friends  or  attendants,  under  the 
sharp  twinges  of  it;  to  utter  no  rude  or  angry  lan- 
guage, and  to  take  every  thing  kindly  that  they  say 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  213 

or  do,  and  become  like  a weaned  child.  But  such 
a character  is  not  found  in  every  house. 

A holy  soul,  through  the  severity  of  pain,  may 
sometimes  in  such  an  hour  be  too  much  ruffled  by 
violent  and  sudden  fits  of  impatience.  This  pro- 
ceeded to  such  a degree  even  in  that  good  man  Job, 
under  his  various  calamities  and  the  sore  boils  upon 
his  flesh,  that  made  him  curse  the  day  wherein  he 
was  born,  and  cry  out  in  the  anguish  of  his  spirit, 
“My  soul  chooseth  strangling  and  death  rather  than 
life.”  Job  iii.  and  vii.  15.  And  there  have  been 
several  instances  of  those  who,  having  not  the  fear  of 
God  before  their  eyes,  with  hasty  violence  and  mur- 
derous hands  have  put  an  end  to  their  own  lives, 
through  their  wild  and  sinful  impatience  of  constant 
pain. 

But  these  trials  are  for  ever  finished  when  this 
life  expires:  then  all  our  pains  are  ended  for  ever, 
if  we  are  found  among  the  children  of  God.  There 
is  not,  nor  can  be  any  temptation  in  heaven,  to  fret- 
fulness or  disquietude  of  mind : all  the  peevish  pas- 
sions are  dropped  into  the  grave,  together  with  the 
body  of  flesh;  and  those  evil  humours,  which  were 
the  source  of  smart  and  anguish  here  on  earth,  have 
no  place  in  the  new-raised  body:  those  irregular 
juices  of  animal  nature,  which  tormented  the  nerves, 
and  excited  pain  in  the  flesh,  and  which  at  the  same 
time  provoked  choler  and  irritated  the  spirit,  are  never 
found  in  the  heavenly  mansions.  There  is  nothing 
but  peace  and  pleasure,  joy  and  love,  goodness  and 
benevolence,  ease  and  satisfaction  diffused  through 
all  the  regions  on  high : there  are  no  inward  springs 
of  uneasiness  to  ruffle  the  mind,  none  of  those  fret- 
ful ferments  which  were  wont  to  kindle  in  the  mor- 
tal body,  and  explode  themselves  with  fire  and  thunder 
upon  every  supposed  offence,  or  even  sometimes 
without  provocation.  O happy  state  and  blessed 
mansions  of  the  saints,  when  this  body  of  sin  shall  be 
destroyed,  and  all  the  restless  atoms  that  disquieted 


214 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


the  flesh  and  provoked  the  spirit  of  impatience  shall 
be  buried  in  the  dust  of  death,  and  never,  never  rise 
again ! 

6.  Pain  carries  a temptation  with  it,  sometimes,  to 
repine  and  murmur  at  the  providence  of  God.  Not 
fellow-creatures  alone,  but  even  our  sovereign  Creator 
comes  within  the  reach  of  the  peevish  humours,  which 
are  alarmed  and  roused  by  sharp  or  continual  pain. 
Jonah  the  prophet,  when  he  felt  the  sultry  heat  of 
the  sun  smite  fiercely  upon  him,  and  the  gourd  which 
gave  him  a friendly  shadow  was  withered  away,  he 
told  God  himself  in  a passion,  that  “he  did  well  to  be 
angry,  even  unto  death.”  Jonah  iv.  9.  And  even  the 
man  of  Uz,  the  pattern  of  patience,  was  sometimes 
transported  with  the  smart  and  maladies  that  were 
upon  him,  so  that  he  complained  against  God  as  well 
as  complained  to  him,  and  used  some  very  unbecom- 
ing expressions  towards  his  Maker.  When  we  are 
under  the  smarting  rebukes  of  Providence,  we  are 
ready  to  compare  ourselves  with  others  who  are  in 
peace,  and  then  the  envious  and  the  murmuring  hu- 
mour breaks  out  into  rebellious  language,  Why  am  I 
thus  afflicted  more  than  others?  Why  hast  thou 
set  me  as  a mark  for  thine  arrows?  Why  dost  thou 
not  let  loose  thy  hand  and  cut  me  off  from  the  earth? 

But  in  heaven  there  is  a glorious  reverse  of  all  such 
unhappy  scenes  : there  is  no  pain  nor  any  temptation 
to  murmur  at  the  dealings  of  the  Almighty  : there 
is  nothing  that  can  incline  us  to  think  hardly  of  God  : 
the  days  of  chastisement  are  for  ever  ended,  and  pain- 
ful discipline  shall  be  used  no  more.  WTe  shall  live 
for  ever  in  the  embraces  of  the  love  of  God,  and  he 
shall  be  the  object  of  our  everlasting  praise.  Perfect 
felicity  withouttheinterruptionof  one  uneasy  thought 
for  ever  forbids  the  inhabitants  of  that  world  to  re- 
pine at  their  situation  under  the  eternal  smiles  of  that 
blessed  Being  that  made  them. 

7.  To  add  no  more,  pain  and  anguish  of  the  flesh 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


215 


have  sometimes  prevailed  so  far  as  to  distract  the 
mind  as  well  as  destroy  the  body.  It  has  overpowered 
all  the  reasoning  faculties  of  man,  it  has  destroyed 
natural  life,  and  brought  it  down  to  the  grave:  the 
senses  have  been  confounded,  and  the  understanding 
overwhelmed  with  severe  and  racking  pain,  especially 
where  there  hath  been  an  impatient,  temper  to  con- 
test with  them.  Extreme  smart  of  the  flesh  distresses 
feeble  nature,  and  turns  the  whole  frame  of  it  upside 
down  in  wild  confusion:  it  has  actually  worn  out 
this  animal  frame,  and  stopped  all  the  springs  of  vital 
motion.  The  gout  and  the  stone  have  brought  death 
upon  the  patient  in  this  manner ; and  a dreadful  man- 
ner of  dying  it  is,  to  have  breath,  and  life,  and  nature, 
quite  oppressed  and  destroyed  with  intense  and  pain- 
ful sensations. 

But  when  we  survey  the  mansions  of  the  heavenly 
world,  we  shall  find  none  of  these  evils  there : no 
danger  of  any  such  events  as  these  ; for  there  is  no 
pain,  no  sorrow,  no  crying,  no  death  nor  destruction 
there.  The  mind  shall  be  for  ever  clear  and  serene 
in  the  ease  and  happiness  of  the  separate  state;  and 
when  the  body  shall  be  raised  again,  that  glorified 
body,  as  was  intimated  a little  before,  shall  have  none 
of  the  seeds  of  distemper  in  it,-  no  ferments  that  can 
rack  the  nerves,  or  create  anguish;  no  fever,  or  gout, 
or  stone,  was  ever  known  in  that  counlry,  no  head- 
ach  or  heart-ach  have  ascended  thither. 

That  body  also  shall  be  capable  of  no  outward 
wounds  nor  bruises,  for  it  is  raised  only  for  happiness, 
and  leaves  all  the  causes  of  pain  behind  it.  It  is  a 
body  made  for  immortality  and  pleasure;  there  the 
sickly  Christian  is  delivered  from  all  the  maladies  of 
the  flesh,  and  the  twinges  of  acute  pain  which  made 
him  groan  here  on  earth  night  and  day.  There  the 
martyrs  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and  all  the  holy  con- 
fessors are  free  from  their  cruel  tormentors,  those 
surly  executioners  of  heathen  fury,  or  antichristian 


216  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

wrath;  they  are  forever  released  from  racks,  and 
wheels,  and  fires,  and  every  engine  of  torture  and 
smart.  Immortal  ease  and  unfading  health  and 
cheerfulness  run  through  their  eternal  state,  and  all 
the  powers  of  the  man  are  composed  for  the  most 
regular  exercises  of  devotion  and  divine  joy. 

Thus  I have  endeavoured  briefly  to  set  the  different 
states  of  heaven  and  earth  before  you  under  this  dis- 
tinguishing character,  that  all  the  tempting,  the  dis- 
tressing and  mischievous  attendants  and  consequences 
of  pain,  to  which  we  are  exposed  in  our  mortal  life, 
are  for  ever  banished  from  the  heavenly  world. 

SECTION  II.  v 

The  second  general  inquiry  was  this:  What  just 
and  convincing  arguments  or  proofs  can  be  given, 
that  there  are  no  pains  or  uneasy  sensations  to  be  felt 
by  the  saints  in  a future  state,  nor  to  be  feared  after 
this  life? 

My  answers  to  this  question  shall  be  very  few;  be- 
cause I think  the  thing  must  be  sufficiently  evident 
to  those  who  believe  the  New  Testament,  and  have 
liberty  to  read  it. 

First  argument.  God  has  assured  us  so  in  his 
word,  that  there  is  no  pain  for  holy  souls  to  endure 
in  the  world  to  come?  My  text  may  be  esteemed  a 
sufficient  proof  of  it;  for  whatsoever  particular  event 
or  period  of  the  church  on  earth  this  prophecy  may 
refer  to,  yet  the  description  is  borrowed  from  the 
blessedness  of  heaven;  and  if  there  shall  be  any  such 
state  on  earth,  much  more  will  it  be  so  in  the  hea- 
venly world,  whereof  that  period  on  earth  is  but  a 
shadow  and  emblem.  We  are  expressly  told,  Rev. 
xiv.  8,  in  order  to  encourage  the  persecuted  saints 
and  martyrs,  “Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the 
Lord  from  henceforth,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours 
(or  pains)  and  their  works  follow  them;”  that  is,  in  a 
way  of  gracious  recompense. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


217 


It  is  granted  indeed  by  the  papists  themselves, 
th"at  in  heaven  there  is  no  pain;  yet  they  suppose 
there  are  many  and  grievous  pains  for  the  soul  to  un- 
dergo in  a place  called  purgatory,  after  the  death  of 
the  body,  before  it  arrives  at  heaven. 

But  give  me  leave  to  ask,  does  not  St.  Paul  ex- 
press himself  with  confidence  concerning  himseif 
and  his  fellow  Christians— that  they  shall  be  present 
with  the  Lord  when  they  are  absent  from  the  body? 
2 Cor.  v.  8.  Surely  the  state  wherein  Christ  our 
Lord  dwells  after  all  his  sufferings  and  agonies,  is  a 
state  of  everlasting  ease  without  suffering;  and  shall 
not  his  followers  dwell  with  him?  Do  we  not  read 
in  the  parable  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  xvi.  22,  that 
Lazarus  was  no  sooner  dead,  but  his  soul  was  carried 
by  angels  into  the  bosom  of  Abraham,  or  paradise? 
Every  holy  soul  wherein  the  work  of  grace  is  begun, 
and  sin  hath  received  its  mortal  wound,  is  perfectly 
sanctified  when  it  is  released  from  this  body:  and  it 
puts  off  the  body  of  sin  and  the  body  of  flesh  together, 
for  nothing  that  defileth  must  enter  into  paradise, 
or  the  heavenly  state. 

The  word  of  God  has  appointed  but  two  states, 
viz,  heaven  and  hell,  for  the  reception  of  all  mankind 
when  they  depart  from  this  world  ; and  how  vain  a 
thing  must  it  be  for  men  to  invent  a third  state,  and 
make  a purgatory  of  it!  This  is  a building  erected 
by  the  church  of  Rome  between  heaven  and  hell, 
and  prepared,  by  their  wild  imagination,  for  souls  of 
imperfect  virtue,  to  be  tormented  there  with  pains 
equal  to  those  of  hell,  but  of  shorter  duration.  This 
state  of  fiery  purgation,  and  extreme  anguish,  is  de- 
vised by  that  mother  of  lies,  partly  under  a pretence 
of  completing  the  penances  and  satisfactions  for  the 
sins  of  men  committed  in  this  life,  and  partly  also  to 
purify  and  refine  their  souls  from  all  the  remaining 
dregs  of  sin,  and  fill  up  their  virtues  to  perfection, 
that  they  may  be  fit  for  the  immediate  presence  of 
20 


218 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


God.  But  does  not  the  scripture  sufficiently  inform 
us,  that  the  atonement  or  satisfaction  of  Christ  for  sin 
is  full  and  complete  in  itself,  and  needs  none  of  our 
additions  in  this  world  or  another?  Does  not  the 
apostle  John  tell  us,  1 John  i.  7,  “ The  blood  of  Je- 
sus Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin  ?”  Nor  shall  the 
saints  after  this  life  sin  any  more,  to  require  any  new 
atonement;  nor  do  they  carry  the  seeds  of  sin  to  hea- 
ven with  them,  but  drop  them  together  with  the 
flesh,  and  all  the  sources  of  pain  together;  now  since 
neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  give  us  any  intima- 
tion of  such  a place  as  purgatory  for  the  refinement 
or  purification  of  souls  after  this  life,  we  have  no 
ground  to  hearken  to  such  a fable. 

The  second  argument  is  this:  God  has  not  pro- 
vided any  medium  to  convey  pain  to  holy  souls  after 
they  have  dropped  this  body  of  flesh.  They  are  par- 
doned, they  are  sanctified,  they  are  accepted  of  God 
for  ever;  and  since  they  are  in  no  danger  of  sinning 
afresh  by  the  influences  of  corrupt  flesh  and  blocd, 
therefore  they  are  in  no  fear  of  suffering  any  thing 
thereby.  And  if,  as  some  divines  have  supposed, 
there  should  be  any  pure  ethereal  bodies  or  vehicles 
provided  for  holy  separate  souls,  when  departed  from 
this  grosser  tabernacle  of  flesh  and  blood,  yet  it  can- 
not be  supposed  that  the  God  of  all  grace  would  mix 
up  any  seeds  of  pain  with  that  ethereal  matter,  which 
is  to  be  the  occasional  habitation  of  sanctified  spirits 
in  that  state,  nor  that  he  would  make  any  avenues 
or  doors  of  entrance  for  pain,  into  these  refined  ve- 
hicles, when  the  state  of  their  sinning  and  their  trials 
is  for  ever  finished. 

Nor  will  the  body  at  the  final  resurrection  of  the 
saints  be  made  fora  medium  of  any  painful  sensations. 
All  the  pains  of  nature  are  ended,  when  the  first  union 
between  flesh  and  spirit  is  dissolved.  When  this 
body  lies  down  to  sleep  in  the  dust,  it  shall  never 
awake  again  with  any  of  the  principles  of  sin  or  pain 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


219 


in  it;  though  it  be  “sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in 
power;”  though  it  be  “sown  in  dishonour,  it  is  raised 
in  glory;”  and  we  shall  be  made  like  the  Son  of  God, 
without  sorrow  and  without  sin  for  ever. 

Third  argument.  There  are  no  moral  causes 
or  reasons  why  there  should  be  any  thing  of  pain  pro- 
vided for  the  heavenly  state.  And  if  there  be  no  mo- 
ral reasons  for  it,  surely  God  will  not  provide  pain 
for  his  creatures  without  reason!  But  this  thought 
leads  me  to  the  next  general  [division]  of  my  dis- 
course. 

SECTION  III. 

The  third  general  inquiry  which  I proposed  to 
make  was  this:  What  may  be  the  chief  moral  rea- 
sons, motives,  or  designs  of  the  blessed  God  in  send- 
ing pain  on  his  creatures  here  below?  And  at  the  same 
time  I shall  show  that  these  designs  and  purposes  of 
God  are  finished,  and  they  have  no  place  in  heaven. 

First,  then,  pain  is  sometimes  sent  into  our  na- 
tures to  awaken  slothful  and  drowsy  Christians  out  of 
their  spiritual  slumbers,  or  to  rouse  stupid  sinners 
from  a state  of  spiritual  death.  Intense  and  sharp 
pain  of  the  flesh  has  oftentimes  been  the  appointed 
and  effectual  means  of  Providence  to  attain  these  de- 
sirable ends. 

Pain  is  like  a rod  in  the  hand  of  God,  wherewith 
he  smites  sinners  that  are  dead  in  their  trespasses,  and 
his  Spirit  joins  with  it  to  awaken  them  into  spiritual 
life.  This  rod  is  sometimes  so  smarting  and  severe, 
that  it  will  make  a senseless  and  ungodly  wretch 
look  upwards  to  the  hand  that  smites  it,  and  take  no- 
tice of  the  rebuke  of  Heaven,  though  all  the  thunder- 
ing and  lightningof  the  word,  and  all  the  terrors  of 
hell  denounced  there,  could  not  awaken  them. 

Acute  pain  is  also  a common  instrument  in  our 
heavenly  Father’s  hand,  to  recover  backsliding  saints 
from  their  secure  and  drowsy  frames  of  spirit. 


220  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

David  often  found  it  so,  and  speaks  it  plainly  in  the 
38th  and  39th  Psalms;  and  in  Psalm  cxix.  67,  he 
confesses,  “Before  I was  afflicted  I went  astray;” 
but  when  he  had  felt  the  scourge,  he  learned  to  obey, 
and  to  keep  the  word  of  his  God. 

But  there  is  no  need  of  this  discipline  in  heaven; 
no  need  of  this  smarting  scourge  to  make  dead  sin- 
ners  feel  their  Maker's  hand,  in  order  to  rouse  them 
into  life,  for  there  are  no  such  inhabitants  in  that 
world:  nor  is  there  any  need  of  such  divine  and  pa- 
ternal discipline  of  God  in  those  holy  mansions,  where 
there  is  no  drowsy  Christian  to  be  awakened,  no  wan- 
dering spirit  that  wants  to  be  reduced  to  duty  ; and 
where  the  designs  of  such  smarting  strokes  have  no 
place,  pain  itself  must  be  for  ever  banished;  for 
God  does  not  willingly,  afflict  nor  take  delight  in 
grieving  the  children  of  men  without  substantial 
reasons  for  it. 

2.  Another  use  of  bodily  pain  and  anguish  in  this 
world  is,  to  punish  men  for  their  faults  and  follies, 
to  make  them  know  what  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  it  is 
to  sin  against  God,  and  thereby  to  guard  them  against 
new  temptations,  Jer.  ii.  19:  “Thy  own  wicked- 
ness shall  correct  thee,  and  thy  backsliding  shall  re- 
prove thee;”  that  is,  by  means  of  the  smarting  chas- 
tisements they  bring  upon  men.  When  God  makes 
the  sinner  taste  of  the  fruit  of  his  own  ways,  he  makes 
others  also  observe  how  hateful  a thing  every  sin  is  in 
the  sight  of  God,  which  he  thinks  fit  so  terribly  to 
punish. 

This  is  one  general  reason  why  special  diseases, 
maladies  and  plagues  are  spread  over  a whole  na- 
tion, viz.  to  punish  the  sins  of  the  inhabitants,  when 
they  have  provoked  God  by  public  and  spreading 
iniquities.  War  and  famine,  with  all  their  terrible 
train  of  anguish  and  agony,  and  the  dying  pains 
which  they  diffuse  over  a kingdom,  are  rods  of  pu- 
nishment in  the  hand  of  God,  the  governor  of  the 


NO  PATN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  221 

world,  to  declare  from  heaven  and  earth  his  indigna- 
tion against  an  ungodly  and  an  unrighteous  age. 

This  indeed  is  one  design  of  the  pains  and  torments 
of  hell  where  God  inflicts  pain  without  intermission; 
and  this  is  sometimes  the  purpose  of  God  in  his  pain- 
ful providences  here  on  earth : shall  I rise  yet  higher, 
and  say,  that  this  was  one  great  design  in  the  eye  of 
God,  when  it  pleased  the  Father  to  bruise  his  best 
beloved  Son,  and  put  him  under  the  impressions  of 
extreme  pain,  viz.  to  discover  to  the  world  the  abomi- 
nable evil  that  was  in  sin?  While  Jesus  stood  in  the 
stead  of  sinners,  then  his  soul  was  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful even  to  death ; and  he  sweat  drops  of  blood  under 
the  pressure  of  his  agonies,  to  let  the  world  see  what 
the  sin  of  man  had  deserved : and  sometimes  God 
smites  his  own  children  in  this  world  with  smarting 
strokes  of  correction,  when  they  have  indulged  any 
iniquity,  to  show  the  world  that  God  hates  sin  in  his 
own  people  wheresover  he  finds  it,  and  to  bring  his 
children  back  again  to  the  paths  of  righteousness. 

But  in  the  heavenly  state  there  are  no  faults  to  pu- 
nish, no  follies  to  chastise.  Jesus,  our  surety,  in  the 
days  of  his  flesh  has  suffered  those  sorrows  which 
made  atonement  for  sin,  and  that  anguish  of  his  holy 
soul,  and  the  blood  of  his  cross  have  satisfied  the  de- 
mands of  God : so  that  with  honour  he  can  pardon 
ten  thousand  penitent  criminals,  and  provide  an  inhe- 
ritance of  ease  and  blessedness  for  them  for  ever. 
When  once  we  are  dismissed  from  this  body,  the  spi- 
rit is  thoroughly  sanctified,  and  there  is  no  fire  of  pur- 
gatory needful  to  burn  out  the  remains  of  sin ; those 
foolish  invented  flames  are  but  false  fire,  kindled  by 
the  priests  of  Rome  to  fright  the  souls  of  the  dying, 
and  to  squeeze  money  out  of  them  to  purchase  so 
many  vain  and  idle  masses  to  relieve  the  souls  of  the 
dead.  Upon  our  actual  release  from  this  flesh  and 
blood,  neither  the  guilt  nor  the  power  of  sin  shall  at- 
tend the  saints  in  their  flight  to  heaven ; all  the  spirits 

20* 


222  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

that  arrive  there  are  made  perfect  in  holiness  without 
new  scourges,  and  commence  a state  of  felicity  that 
shall  never  be  interrupted. 

3.  God  has  appointed  pain  in  this  world,  to  exercise 
and  try  the  virtues  and  the  graces  of  his  people.  As 
gold  is  thrown  into  the  fire  to  prove  and  try  how  pure 
it  is  from  any  coarse  alloy,  so  the  children  of  God  are 
sometimes  left  for  a season  in  the  furnace  of  sufferings, 
partly  to  refine  them  from  their  dross,  and  partly  to 
discover  their  purity  and  their  substantial  weight  and 
worth. 

Sometimes  God  lays  smarting  pain  with  his  own 
hand  on  the  flesh  of  his  people,  on  purpose  to  try  their 
graces;  when  we  endure  the  pain  without  murmuring 
at  Providence,  then  it  is  we  come  off  conquerors. 
Christian  submission  and  silence  under  the  hand  of 
God,  is  one  way  to  victory.  “I  was  dumb,”  says 
David,  “and  opened  not  my  mouth;  because  thou 
didst  it.”  Psal.  xxxix.  9 : Our  love  to  God,  our  resigna- 
tion to  his  will,  our  holy  fortitude  and  our  patience 
find  a proper  trial  in  such  smarting  seasons.  Perhaps 
when  some  severe  pain  first  seizes  and  surprises  us,  we 
find  ourselves  like  a wild  bull  in  a net,  and  all  the 
powers  of  nature  are  thrown  into  tumult  and  dis- 
quietude, so  that  we  have  no  possession  of  our  own 
spirits;  but  when  the  hand  of  God  has  continued  us 
a while  under  this  divine  discipline,  we  learn  to  bow 
down  to  his  sovereignty,  we  lie  at  his  footstool  calm 
and  composed;  he  brings  our  haughty  and  reluctant 
spirits  down  to  his  foot,  and  makes  us  lie  humble  in 
the  dust,  and  we  wait  with  patience  the  hour  of  his  re- 
lease. Rom.  v.  3,  4.  Tribulation  worketh  patience, 
and  patience  under  tribulation  gives  us  experience  of 
the  dealings  of  God  with  his  people,  and  makes  our 
way  to  a confirmed  hope  in  his  love.  The  evidence 
of  our  various  graces  grows  brighter  and  stronger 
under  a smarting  rod,  till  we  are  settled  in  a joyful 
Confidence,  and  the  soul  rests  in  God  himself. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


223 


Sometimes  he  has  permitted  evil  angels  to  put  the 
flesh  to  pain,  for  the  trial  of  his  children ; so  Job 
was  smitten  with  sore  boils  from  head  to  foot  by  the 
malice  of  Satan,  at  the  permission  of  God:  “But  he 
knows  the  way  that  I take,”  says  this  holy  man,  and 
“ when  he  has  tried  me,  I shall  come  forth  as  gold. 
My  foot  hath  held  his  steps”  through  all  these  trials; 
“ neither  have  I gone  back  from  the  commandments 
of  his  lips,”  Job  xxiii.  10,  12. 

At  other  times  he  suffers  wicked  men  to  spend 
their  own  malice,  and  to  inflict  dreadful  pains  on  his 
own  children.  Look  back  to  the  years  of  ancient  per- 
secution in  the  land  of  Israel,  under  Jewish  or  hea- 
then tyrants;  review  the  annals  of  Great  Britain; 
look  over  the  seas  into  popish  kingdoms;  take  a view 
of  the  cursed  courts  of  inquisition  in  Spain,  Portu- 
gal, and  Italy;  behold  the  weapons,  the  scourges,  the 
racks,  the  machines  of  torture  and  engines  of  cruelty 
devised  by  the  barbarous  and  inhuman  wit  of  men, 
to  constrain  the  saints  to  renounce  their  faith,  and 
dishonour  their  Saviour.  See  the  slow  fires  where 
the  martyrs  have  been  roasted  to  death  with  linger- 
ing torment:  these  are  the  seasons  of  terrible  trial  in- 
deed, whereby  the  malice  of  Satan  and  Antichrist 
would  force  the  servants  of  God,  and  the  followers  of 
the  Lamb,  into  sinful  compliances  with  their  idolatry, 
or  a desertion  of  their  post  of  duty:  but  the  Spirit  of 
God  has  supported  his  children  to  bear  a glorious 
testimony  to  pure  and  undefiled  religion ; and  they 
have  seemed  to  mock  the  rage  of  their  tormentors, 
to  defy  all  the  stings  of  pain,  and  triumphed  over  all 
their  vain  attempts,  to  compel  them  to  sin  against 
their  God. 

One  would  sometimes  be  ready  to  wonder,  that  a 
God  of  infinite  mercy  and  compassion  should  suffer 
his  own  dear  children  to  be  tried  in  so  terrible  a man- 
ner as  this ; but  unsearchable  wisdom  is  with  him, 
and  he  does  not  give  an  account  to  men  of  all  the  rea- 


224  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

sons  and  the  rules  of  his  conduct.  This  has  been 
his  method  of  providence  with  his  saints  at  especial 
seasons,  under  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  dispen- 
sations, and  perhaps  under  all  the  dispensations  of 
God  to  men,  from  the  days  of  Cain  and  Abel  to  the 
present  hour.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  given  us  many 
warnings  of  it  in  his  word  by  his  own  mouth,  and  by 
all  his  three  apostles,  Paul,  Peter,  and  John : “They 
that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  perse- 
cution; think  it  not  strange  therefore  concerning  the 
fiery  trial “the  devil, by  his  wicked  agents,  “shall 
cast  some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried ; 
and  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ten  days,  but  fear  none 
of  these  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer.  Be  thou 
faithful  unto  death,  and  I will  give  thee  a crown  of 
life.” 

But  blessed  be  God  that  this  world  is  the  only 
stage  of  such  trials.  As  soon  as  the  state  of  proba- 
tion is  finished,  the  state  of  recompense  begins. 
Such  hard  and  painful  exercises  to  try  the  virtues  of 
the  saints,  have  no  place  in  that  world  which  was 
not  made  for  a stage  of  trial  and  conflict,  but  a palace 
of  glorious  reward.  Heaven  is  the  place  where  crowns 
and  prizes  are  distributed  to  all  those  blessed  ones 
who  have  endured  temptation,  and  who  have  been 
found  faithful  to  the  death.  These  sharp  and  dread- 
ful combats  with  pain,  have  no  place  among  conque- 
rors, who  have  finished  their  warfare,  and  have  be- 
gun their  triumph. 

Pain  is  sent  us  by  the  hand  of  Providence  to  teach 
us  many  a lesson  both  of  truth  and  duty,  which 
perhaps  we  should  never  have  learnt  so  well  without 
it.  This  sharp  sensation  awakens  our  best  powers 
to  attend  to  those  truths  and  duties  which  we  took 
less  notice  of  before : in  the  time  of  perfect  ease  we 
are  ready  to  let  them  lie  neglected  or  forgotten,  till 
God  our  great  master  takes  his  rod  in  hand  for  our 
instruction. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


225 


SECTION  IV. 

And  this  leads  me  to  the  fourth  general  head  of 
my  discourse,  and  that  is,  to  inquire  what  are  those 
spiritual  lessons  which  may  he  learnt  on  earth  from 
the  pains  we  have  suffered,  or  may  suffer  in  the 
flesh.  I shall  divide  them  into  two  sorts,  namely, 
lessons  of  instruction  in  useful  truth,  and  lessons  of 
duty,  or  practical  Christianity;  and  there  are  many 
of  each  kind  with  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  in 
this  world  may  be  better  acquainted,  by  the  actual 
sensations  of  pain,  than  any  other  way:  in  this  world 
I say,  and  in  this  only ; for  in  heaven  most  of  these 
lessons  of  doctrine  and  practice  are  utterly  needless 
to  be  taught,  either  because  they  have  been  so  per- 
fectly well  known  to  all  its  inhabitants  before,  and 
their  present  situation  makes  it  impossible  to  forget 
them;  or  they  shall  be  let  into  the  fuller  knowledge 
of  them  in  heaven  in  a far  superior  way  of  instruc- 
tion, and  without  any  such  uneasy  discipline.  And 
this  I shall  evidently  make  appear,  when  I have  first 
enumerated  all  these  general  lessons  both  of  truth 
and  duty,  and  shown  how  wisely  the  great  God  has 
appointed  them  to  be  taught  here  on  earth,  under 
the  scourge  and  the  wholesome  discipline  of  pain  in 
the  flesh. 

I.  The  lessons  of  instruction  here  on  earth,  or  the 
useful  truths,  are  such  as  these: 

1.  Pain  teaches  us  feelingly  what  feeble  creatures 
we  are,  and  how  entirely  dependent  on  God  our  Ma- 
ker for  every  hour  and  moment  of  ease.  We  are  na- 
turally wild  and  wanton  creatures,  and  especially  in 
the  season  of  youth,  our  gayer  powers  are  gadding 
abroad  at  the  call  of  every  temptation;  but  when 
God  sends  his  arrows  into  our  flesh,  he  arrests  us  on 
a sudden,  and  teaches  us  that  we  are  but  men,  poor, 
feeble,  dying  creatures,  soon  crushed,  and  sinking 
under  his  hand.  We  are  ready  to  exult  in  the  vi- 


226  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

gour  of  youth,  when  animal  nature,  in  its  prime  of 
strength  and  glory,  raises  our  pride,  and  supports  us 
in  a sort  of  self-sufficiency,  we  are  so  vain  and  fool- 
ish, as  to  imagine  nothing  can  hurt  us.  But  when 
the  pain  of  a little  nerve  seizes  us,  and  we  feel  the 
acute  twinges  of  it,  we  are  made  to  confess  that  our 
flesh  is  not  iron,  nor  our  bones  brass;  that  we  are  by 
no  means  the  lords  of  ourselves,  or  sovereigns  over 
our  own  nature;  we  cannot  remove  the  least  degree 
of  pain,  till  the  Lord  who  sent  it  takes  off  his  hand, 
and  commands  the  smart  to  cease.  If  the  torture 
fix  itself  but  in  a finger  or  a toe,  or  in  the  little  nerve 
of  a tooth,  what  intense  agonies  may  it  create  in  us, 
and  that  beyond  all  the  relief  of  medicines,  till  the 
moment  wherein  God  shall  give  us  ease.  This  les- 
son of  the  frailty  of  human  nature  must  be  some 
time  written  upon  our  hearts  in  deep  and  smarting 
characters,  by  intense  pain,  before  we  have  learnt  it 
well,  and  this  gives  us,  for  time  to  come,  a happy 
guard  against  our  pride  and  vanity.  Psal.  xxxix.  10. 
When  David  felt  the  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God  upon 
him,  and  corrected  him  with  sharp  rebukes  for  his 
iniquity,  he  makes  an  humble  address  to  God,  and 
acknowledges  that  his  beauty,  and  all  the  boasted 
excellencies  of  flesh  and  blood,  consume  away  like  a 
moth;  surely  every  man  is  vanity!  Psal.  xxxix.  10, 
11. 

2.  The  next  useful  truth  in  which  pain  instructs  us, 
is  the  great  evil  that  is  contained  in  the  nature  of  sin, 
because  it  is  the  occasion  of  such  intense  pain  and 
misery  to  human  nature.  I grant,  I have  hinted 
this  before,  but  I would  have  it  more  powerfully  im- 
pressed upon  our  spirits,  and  therefore  I introduce  it 
here  again  in  this  part  of  my  discourse  as  a spiritual 
lesson,  which  we  learn  under  the  discipline  of  our 
heavenly  Father. 

It  is  true  indeed  that  innocent  nature  was  made 
capable  of  pain  in  the  first  Adam,  and  the  innocent 
nature  of  the  man  Jesus  Christ  suffered  acute  pain, 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  227 

he  came  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh;  but  if  Adam 
had  continued  in  his  state  of  innocence,  it  is  a great 
question  with  me,  whether  he  or  his  children  would 
have  actually  tasted  or  felt  what  acute  pain  is;  I 
mean  such  pain  as  we  now  suffer,  such  as  makes  us 
so  far  unhappy,  and  such  as  we  cannot  immediately 
relieve. 

It  may  be  granted,  that  natural  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  weariness  after  labour,  would  have  carried  in 
them  some  degrees  of  pain  or  uneasiness,  even  in  the 
state  of  innocence;  but  these  are  necessary  to  awaken 
nature  to  seek  food  and  rest,  and  to  put  the  man  in 
mind  to  supply  his  natural  wants;  and  man  might 
have  immediately  relieved  them  himself,  for  the  sup- 
plies of  ease  were  at  hand;  and  these  sort  of  uneasi- 
nesses were  abundantly  compensated  by  the  pleasure 
of  rest  and  food,  and  perhaps  they  were  in  some 
measure  necessary  to  make  food  and  rest  pleasant. 

But  surely  if  sin  had  never  been  known  in  our 
world,  all  the  pain  that  arises  from  inward  diseases 
of  nature,  or  from  outward  violence,  had  been  a stran- 
ger to  the  human  race,  an  unknown  evil  among  the  sons 
of  men,  as  it  is  among  the  holy  angels,  the  sons  of 
God.  There  had  been  no  distempers  or  acute  pains 
to  meet  young  babes  at  their  entrance  into  this  world; 
no  maladies  to  attend  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam 
through  the  journey  of  life;  and  they  should  have 
been  translated  to  some  higher  and  happier  region, 
without  death,  and  without  pain. 

It  was  the  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  that  acquainted  Adam  and  his  offspring 
with  the  evil  of  pain.  Or  if  pain  could  have  attack- 
ed innocence  in  any  form  or  degree,  it  would  have 
been  but  in  a way  of  trial,  to  exercise  and  illustrate 
his  virtues;  and  if  he  had  endured  the  test,  and  con- 
tinued innocent,  I am  satisfied  he  should  never  have 
felt  any  pain  which  was  not  over-balanced  with  su- 
perior pleasure,  or  abundantly  recompensed  by  suc- 
ceeding rewards  and  satisfactions. 


228  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

Some  persons  indeed  have  supposed  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  afflict  and  torment 
a sinless  creature:  yet  I think  it  is  hardly  consistent 
with  his  goodness,  or  his  equity,  to  constrain  an  inno- 
cent being,  which  has  no  sin,  to  suffer  pain  without 
his  own  consent,  and  without  giving  that  creature 
equal  or  superior  pleasure  as  a recompense.  Both 
these  were  the  case  in  the  sufferings  of  our  blessed 
Lord  in  his  human  nature,  who  was  perfectly  inno- 
cent: it  was  with  his  own  consent  that  he  gave  him- 
self  up  to  be  a sacrifice,  when  it  pleased  the  Father  to 
bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief;  and  God  rewarded 
him  with  transcendent  honours  and  joys  after  his  pas- 
sion; he  exalted  him  to  his  own  right  hand  and  his 
throne,  and  gave  him  authority  over  all  things. 

In  general,  therefore,  we  have  sufficient  reason  to 
say,  that  as  sin  brought  in  death  into  human  nature, 
so  it  was  sin  that  brought  in  pain  also;  and  where- 
soever there  is  any  pain  suffered  among  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  men,  I am  sure  we  may  venture  to  as- 
sert boldly,  that  the  sufferer  may  learn  the  evil  of  sin. 
Even  the  Son  of  God  himself,  when  he  suffered  pain 
in  his  body,  as  well  as  anguish  in  his  spirit,  has  told 
us  by  his  apostles,  that  our  sins  were  the  cause  of  it : 
“ he  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree/’  and 
“for  our  iniquities  he  was  bruised:”  so  says  Isaiah 
the  prophet,  and  so  speaks  Peter  the  apostle. 

And  sometimes  the  providence  of  God  is  pleased 
to  point  out  to  us  the  particular  sin  we  are  guilty  of, 
by  the  special  punishment  which  he  inflicts.  In 
Psalm  cvii.  17,  18,  fools  are  said  to  be  afflicted,  that 
is,  with  pain  and  sickness,  because  of  their  transgres- 
sions of  riot  and  intemperance;  their  soul  abhors  all 
manner  of  meat,  and  they  draw  near  to  the  gates  of 
death.  Sickness  and  pain  over-balance  all  the  plea- 
sures of  luxury  in  meats  and  drinks,  and  make  the 
epicure  pay  dearly  for  the  elegance  of  his  palate,  and 
the  sweet  relish  of  his  morsels  or  his  cups.  The 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


229 


drunkard,  in  his  debauches,  is  preparing  some  smart- 
ing pain  for  his  own  punishment.  And  let  us  all  be 
so  wise  as  to  learn  this  lesson  by  the  pains  we  feel, 
that  sin  which  introduced  them  into  the  world,  is  an 
abominable  thing  in  the  sight  of  God,  because  it  pro- 
vokes him  to  use  such  smarting  strokes  of  discipline 
in  order  to  recover  us  from  our  folly,  and  to  reduce 
us  back  again  to  the  paths  of  righteousness. 

O blessed  smart!  O happy  pain,  that  helps  to  sof- 
ten the  heart  of  a sinner,  and  melts  it  to  receive  di- 
vine instruction,  which  before  was  hard  as  iron,  and 
attended  to  no  divine  counsel!  We  are  ready  to 
wander  from  God,  and  forget  him  amongst  the 
months  and  the  years  of  ease  and  pleasure;  but  when 
the  soul  is  melted  in  this  furnace  of  painful  suffer- 
ings, it  more  easily  receives  some  divine  stamp,  some 
lasting  impression  of  truth,  which  the  words  of  the 
preacher  and  the  book  of  God  had  before  inculcated 
without  success,  and  repeated  almost  in  vain.  Happy 
is  the  soul  that  learns  this  lesson  thoroughly,  and 
gains  a more  lasting  acquaintance  with  the  evil  of 
sin,  and  abhorrence  of  it,  under  the  smarting  stroke 
of  the  hand  of  God.  Blessed  is  the  man  whom  thou 
correctest,  O Lord,  and  teachest  him  the  truths  that 
are  written  in  thy  law,  Psalm  xciv.  12. 

3.  Pain  in  the  flesh  teaches  us  also  how  dreadfully 
the  great  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners  when  he 
pleases,  in  this  world  or  in  the  other.  It  is  written 
in  the  song  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  Psal.  xc.  11, 
“According  to  thy  fear,  so  is  thy  wrath,”  that  is,  the 
displeasure  and  anger  of  the  blessed  G od,  is  as  terrible 
as  we  can  fear  it  to  be;  and  he  can  inflict  on  us  such 
intense  pains  and  agonies,  whose  distressing  smart 
we  may  learn  by  feeling  a little  of  them.  Unknown 
multiplications  of  racking  pain,  lengthened  out  be- 
yond years  and  ages,  is  part  of  the  description  of 
hellish  torments,  and  the  other  part  lies  in  the  bitter 
twinges  of  conscience  and  keen  remorse  of  soul  for 
21 


230 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


our  past  iniquities,  but  all  without  hope.  Behold  a 
man  under  a sharp  fit  of  the  gout  or  stone,  which 
wrings  the  groans  from  his  heart,  and  tears  from  his 
eyelids;  this  is  the  hand  of  God  in  the  present  world, 
where  there  are  many  mixtures  of  divine  goodness; 
% but  if  ever  we  should  be  so  wilfully  unhappy  as  to  be 
plunged  into  those  regions  where  the  almighty  ven- 
geance of  God  reigns,  without  one  beam  of  divine 
light  or  love,  this  must  be  dreadful  indeed.  “It  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God,” 
Heb.  x.  31:  to  be  banished  far  off  from  all  that  is 
holy  and  happy,  and  to  be  confined  to  that  dark  dun- 
geon, that  place  of  torture,  where  the  gnawing  worm 
conscience  never  dies,  and  where  the  fire  of  divine 
anger  is  never  quenched. 

We  who  are  made  up  of  flesh  and  blood,  which  is 
interwoven  with  many  nerves,  and  muscles,  and  mem- 
branes, may  learn  a little  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord, 
if  we  reflect  that  every  nerve,  muscle,  and  membrane 
of  the  body  is  capable  of  giving  us  most  sharp  and 
painful  sensations.  We  may  be  wounded  in  every 
sensible  part  of  nature;  smart  and  anguish  may  enter 
in  at  every  pore,  and  make  almost  every  atom  of  our 
constitution  an  instrument  of  our  anguish.  Fearfully 
and  wonderfully  are  we  formed  indeed,  capable  of 
pain  all  over  us;  and  if  God  should  see  fit  to  pu- 
nish sin  to  its  full  desert,  and  penetrate  every  atom 
of  our- nature  with  pain,  what  surprising  and  intole- 
rable misery  must  that  be!  And  if  God  should  raise 
the  wicked  out  of  their  graves  to  dwell  in  such  sort 
of  bodies  again,  on  purpose  to  showr  his  just  anger 
against  sin  in  their  punishment,  how  dreadful,  be- 
yond expression,  must  their  anguish  be  through  the 
long  ages  of  eternity!  God  can  form  even  such 
bodies  for  immortality,  and  can  sustain  them  to  en- 
dure everlasting  agonies. 

Let  us  think  again,  that  when  the  hand  of  our  Cre- 
ator sends  pain  into  our  flesh,  we  cannot  avoid  it,  we 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  TIIE  BLESSED.  231 

cannot  fly  from  it,  wo  carry  it  with  us  wheresoever 
we  go;  his  arrows  stick  fast  in  us,  and  we  cannot 
shake  them  off;  oftentimes  it  appears  that  we  can 
find  no  relief  from  creatures;  and  if  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  ourselves,  i.  e.  of  these  bodies,  we  plunge  our- 
selves into  the  world  of  spirits  at  once,  we  shall  find 
the  same  God  of  holiness  and  vengeance  there,  who 
can  pierce  our  souls  with  unknown  sorrows,  equaj, 
if  not  superior,  to  all  that  we  felt  in  the  flesh.  If  I 
make  my  bed  in  the  grave,  Lord,  thou  art  there,  thy 
hand  of  justice  and  punishment  would  find  me  out. 

What  a formidable  thing  it  is  to  such  creatures  as 
we  are,  to  have  God  our  Maker,  for  our  enemy ! that 
God  who  has  all  the  tribes  of  pain  and  disease,  and 
the  innumerable  host  of  maladies  at  his  command! 
He  fills  the  air  in  which  we  breathe  with  fevers  and 
pestilences  as  often  as  he  will;  the  gout  and  the  stone 
arrest  and  seize  us  by  his  order,  and  stretch  us  upon 
a bed  of  pain ; rheumatisms  and  colics  come  and  go 
wheresoever  he  sends  them,  and  execute  his  anger 
against  criminals.  He  keeps  in  his  hand  all  the  va- 
rious springs  of  pain,  and  every  invisible  rack  that 
can  torment  the  head  or  members,  the  bowels  or  the 
joints  of  man;  he  sets  them  at  their  dreadful  work 
when  and  where  he  pleases.  Let  the  sinner  tremble 
at  the  name  of  his  power  and  terror,  who  can  fill  both 
flesh  and  spirit  with  thrilling  agonies;  and  yet  he 
never  punishes  beyond  what  our  iniquities  deserve. 
How  necessary  is  it  for  such  sinful  and  guilty  beings 
as  we  are,  whose  natures  are  capable  of  such  constant 
and  acute  sensations  of  pain,  to  have  the  God  of  na- 
ture our  friend,  and  our  reconciled  God? 

4.  When  we  feel  the  acute  pain  of  nature,  we  may 
learn  something  of  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the 
love  of  Christ,  even  the  Son  of  God,  that  glorious 
Spirit,  who  took  upon  him  flesh  and  blood  for  our 
sakes,  that  he  might  be  capable  of  pain  and  death 
though  he  had  never  sinned.  He  endured  intense 


232  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

anguish,  to  make  atonement  for  our  crimes.  Because 
the  children  whom  he  came  to  save  from  misery 
“ were  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself 
took  part  of  the  same,  that  he  might  suffer  in  the 
flesh,”  and  by  his  sufferings  put  away  our  sins. 

Happy  was  he  in  his  Father’s  bosom,  and  the  de- 
light of  his  soul  through  many  long  ages  before  his 
incarnation ; but  he  condescended  to  be  born  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  that  he  might  feel  such  smart 
and  sorrows  as  our  sins  had  exposed  us  to.  His  in- 
nocent and  holy  soul  was  incapable  of  such  sort  of 
sufferings  till  he  put  on  this  clothing  of  human  nature, 
and  became  a surety  for  sinful  perishing  creatures. 

Let  us  survey  his  sufferings  a little.  He  was  born 
to  sorrow,  and  trained  up  through  the  common  un- 
easy circumstances  of  the  infant  and  childish  state, 
till  he  grew  up  to  man ; what  pains  did  attend  him  in 
hunger  and  thirst,  and  weariness,  while  he  travelled 
on  foot  from  city  to  city,  through  wilds  and  deserts, 
where  there  was  no  food  nor  rest ! The  Son  of  man 
sometimes  wanted  the  common  bread  of  nature,  nor 
had  he  where  to  lay  his  head.  What  uneasy  sensa- 
tions was  he  exposed  to,  when  he  was  buffeted,  when 
he  was  smitten  on  the  cheek,  when  his  tender  flesh 
was  scourged  with  whips,  and  his  temples  were 
crowned  with  thorns,  when  his  hands  and  his  feet 
were  barbarously  torn  with  rude  nails,  and  fastened 
to  the  cross  where  the  whole  weight  of  his  body  hung 
on  those  wounds ! And  what  man  or  angel  can  tell 
the  inward  anguish,  when  his  soul  was  exceeding 
sorrowful  unto  death,  and  the  conflicts  and  agonies 
of  his  spirit  forced  out  the  drops  of  bloody  sweat 
through  every  pore.  It  was  by  the  extreme  torture 
of  his  nature  that  he  was  supposed  to  expire  on  the 
cross;  these  were  the  pangs  of  his  atonement  and 
agonies  that  expiated  the  sins  of  men. 

O blessed  Jesus,  what  manner  of  sufferings  were 
these  ! And  what  manner  of  love  was  it  that  willingly 


NO  PATN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


233 


gave  up  thy  sacred  nature  to  sustain  them!  And 
what  was  the  design  of  them,  but  to  deliver  us  from 
the  wrath  of  God  in  hell,  to  save  our  flesh  and  spirit 
from  eternal  anguish  and  distress  there?  Why  was 
he  made  such  a curse  for  us,  but  that  he  might  re- 
deem us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and  the  just 
punishment  of  our  own  iniquities? 

Let  us  carry  our  thoughts  of  his  love,  and  our  be- 
nefit by  it,  yet  one  step  further : was  it  not  by  these 
sorrows,  and  this  painful  passion,  that  he  provided 
for  us  this  very  heaven  of  happiness,  where  we  shall 
be  for  ever  freed  from  all  pain?  Were  they  not  all 
endured  by  him  to  procure  a paradise  of  pleasure, 
a mansion  of  everlasting  peace  and  joy  for  guilty 
creatures,  who  had  merited  everlasting  pain?  Was 
it  not  by  these  his  agonies  in  the  mortal  body,  which 
he  assumed,  that  he  purchased  for  each  of  us  a glo- 
rified body,  strong  and  immortal  as  his  own  when  he 
rose  from  the  dead,  a body  which  has  no  seeds  of  dis- 
ease or  pain  in  it,  no  springs  of  mortality  or  death. 
May  glory,  honour  and  praise,  with  supreme  plea- 
sure, ever  attend  the  sacred  person  of  our  Redeemer, 
whose  sorrows  and  anguish  of  flesh  and  spirit  were 
equal  to  our  misery,  and  to  his  own  compassion. 

5.  Another  lesson  which  we  are  taught  by  the  long 
and  tiresome  pains  of  nature,  is  the  value  and  worth 
of  the  word  of  God,  and  the  sweetness  of  a promise 
which  can  give  the  kindest  relief  to  a painful  hour, 
and  sooth  the  anguish  of  nature.  They  teach  us  the 
excellency  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  which  has  some- 
times strengthened  the  feeblest  pieces  of  human  na- 
ture to  bear  intense  sufferings  in  the  body,  and  which 
sanctifies  them  all  to  our  advantage.  Painful  and 
tiresome  maladies  teach  us  to  improve  the  purposes, 
and  the  promises  take  away  half  the  smart  of  our 
pains  by  the  sensations  of  divine  love  let  into  the 
soul. 

We  read  of  philosophers  and  heroes  in  some  an- 

21* 


234 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


cient  histories,  who  could  endure  pain  by  dint  of  rea- 
soning, by  a pride  of  their  science,  by  an  obstinacy 
of  heart,  or  by  natural  courage;  but  a Christian  takes 
the  word  of  a promise,  and  lies  down  upon  it  in  the 
midst  of  intense  pains  of  nature;  and  the  pleasure 
of  devotion  supplies  him  with  such  ease,  that  all  the 
reasonings  of  philosophy,  all  the  courage  of  nature, 
all  the  anodynes  of  medicine,  and  soothing  plasters 
have  attempted  without  success.  When  a child  of 
God  can  read  his  Father’s  love  in  a promise,  and  by 
searching  into  the  qualifications  of  his  own  soul,  can 
lay  faster  hold  of  it,  by  a living  faith,  the  rage  of  his 
pain  is  much  allayed,  and  made  half  easy.  A pro- 
mise is  a sweet  couch  to  rest  a languishing  body  in 
the  midst  of  pains,  and  a soft  repose  for  the  head  or 
heart-ache. 

The  stoics  pretended  to  give  ease  to  pain,  by  per- 
suading themselves  there  was  no  evil  in  it;  as  though 
the  mere  misnaming  of  things  wTould  destroy  their 
nature;  but  the  Christian,  by  a sweet  submission  to 
the  evil  which  his  heavenly  Father  inflicts  upon  his 
flesh,  reposes  himself  at  the  foot  of  God  on  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  bears  the  wounds  and  the  smart 
with  much  more  serenity  and  honour.  It  is  my  hea- 
venly Father  that  scourges  me,  and  I know  he  de- 
signs me  no  hurt,  though  he  fills  my  flesh  with  pre- 
sent pain,  his  own  presence,  and  the  sense  of  his 
love,  soften  the  anguish  of  all  that  I feel;  he  bids 
me  not  yield  to  fear,  for  when  I pass  through  the  fires 
he  will  be  with  me:  and  he  that  loved  me  and  died 
for  me,  has  suffered  greater  sorrows  and  more  an- 
guish on  my  account,  than  what  he  calls  me  to  bear 
under  the  strokes  of  his  wise  and  holy  discipline;  he 
has  left  his  word  with  me  as  a universal  medicine  to 
relieve  me  under  all  my  anguish,  till  he  shall  bring 
me  to  those  mansions  on  high,  where  sorrows  and 
pains  are  found  no  more. 

G.  Anguish  and  pain  of  nature  here  on  earth  teach. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


235 


us  the  excellency  arid  use  of  the  mercy-seat  in  heaven, 
and  the  admirable  privilege  of  prayer.  Even  the 
sons  of  mere  nature  are  ready  to  think  of  God  at  such 
a season;  and  they  who  never  prayed  before,  pour 
out  a prayer  before  him  when  his  chastening  is  upon 
them,  Isaiah  xxvi.  16.  An  hour  of  twinging  and 
tormenting  pain,  when  creatures  and  medicines  can 
give  no  relief,  drives  them  to  the  throne  of  God  to  try 
whether  he  will  relieve  them  or  no.  But  much  more 
delightful  is  it  for  a child  of  God  that  has  been  used 
to  address  the  throne  of  grace,  to  run  thither  with 
pleasure  and  hope,  and  to  spread  all  his  anguish  be- 
fore the  face  of  his  heavenly  Father.  The  blessed 
God  has  built  this  mercy-seat  for  his  people  to  bring 
all  their  sorrows  thither,  and  spread  them  before  his 
eyes  in  all  their  smarting  circumstances,  and  he  has 
been  often  pleased  to  speak  a word  of  relief. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  dwelt  in  flesh  and 
blood,  practised  this  part  of  religion  with  holy  satis- 
faction and  success.  Being  in  an  agony  he  prayed 
more  earnestly,  and  an  angel  was  sent  to  strengthen 
and  comfort  him,  Luke  xxii.  43,  44.  This  was  the 
relief  of  holy  David  in  ancient  times,  Psalm  xxv.  18: 
“Look  upon  mine  affliction  and  my  pain;  and  par- 
don all  my  sins.”  Psal.  cxvi.  3,  4:  “The  sorrows  of 
death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of  hell,  (or  the 
grave,)  took  hold  of  me;  then  called  I upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord ; O Lord,  I beseech  thee,  deliver 
my  soul.”  And  when  he  found  a gracious  answer  to 
his  request,  he  acknowledges  the  grace  of  God  there- 
in, and  charges  his  soul  to  dwell  near  to  God:  “Re- 
turn to  thy  rest,  O my  soul,  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt 
bountifully  with  thee;  I was  brought  low,  and  he 
helped  me:  he  delivered  my  soul  from  death,  and 
mine  eyes  from  tears.” 

But  we  have  stronger  encouragement  than  David, 
was  acquainted  with,  since  it  is  revealed  to  us,  that 
we  have  a High  Priest  at  this  throne  ready  to  bespeak 


236 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


all  necessary  relief  for  us  there.  Heb.  ii.  18 : A 
High  Priest  who  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  infirmities,  who  has  sustained  the  same  sorrows 
and  pains  in  the  flesh,  who  can  pity  and  relieve  his 
people  under  their  maladies  and  acutest  anguish, 
Heb.  iv.  15.  When  we  groan  and  sigh  under  con- 
tinued pains,  they  are  ready  to  make  nature  weary 
and  faint;  we  groan  unto  the  Lord,  who  knows  the 
language  of  our  frailty ; our  High  Priest  carries  every 
groan  to  the  mercy-seat;  his  compassion  works  to- 
wards his  brethren,  and  he  will  suffer  them  to  con- 
tinue no  longer  under  this  discipline,  than  is  neces- 
sary for  their  own  best  improvement  and  happiness. 

O how  much  of  this  sort  of  consolation  has  many  a 
Christian  learnt  and  tasted,  by  a holy  intercourse  with 
heaven,  in  such  painful  seasons.  How  much  has  he 
learnt  of  the  tender  mercies  of  God  the  Father,  and 
of  the  pity  and  sympathy  of  our  great  High  Priest 
above!  Who  would  be  content  to  live  in  such  a 
painful  world  as  this  is,  without  the  pleasure  and 
relief  of  prayer?  Who  would  live  without  an  inte- 
rest at  this  mercy-seat,  and  without  the  supporting 
friendship  of  this  Advocate  at  the  throne? 

Thus  I have  run  over  the  chief  lessons  of  instruc- 
tion or  doctrine,  which  may  be  derived  from  our  sen- 
sations of  pain  here  in  this  world;  but  there  is  no 
need  of  this  sort  of  discipline  in  the  blessed  regions 
of  heaven  to  teach  the  inhabitants  such  truths. 

They  well  remember  what  feeble,  helpless  crea- 
tures they  were  when  they  dwelt  in  flesh  and  blood  : 
but  they  have  put  off  those  fleshly  garments  of  mor- 
tality, with  all  its  weaknesses  together.  The  spirits 
of  the  blessed  know  nothing  of  those  frailties,  nor 
shall  the  bodies  of  the  saints,  new  raised  from  the 
dust,  bring  back  any  of  their  old  infirmities  with 
them.  These  blessed  creatures  know  well  how  en- 
tirely dependent  they  are  for  all  things  upon  God 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  237 

their  Creator,  without  the  need  of  pains  and  maladies 
to  teach  them,  for  they  live  every  moment  with  God, 
and  in  a full  dependence  upon  him;  they  are  sup- 
ported in  their  life,  and  all  its  everlasting  blessings, 
by  his  immediate  presence,  power,  and  mercy. 

They  have  no  need  of  pain  in  those  fields  or  gar- 
dens of  pleasure  to  teach  them  the  evil  of  sin;  they 
well  remember  all  the  sorrows  they  have  passed 
through  in  their  mortal  state,  while  they  were  tra- 
versing the  wilderness  of  this  world,  and  they  know 
that  sin  was  the  cause  of  them  all.  They  see  the 
evil  of  sin  in  the  glass  of  the  divine  holiness,  and  the 
hateful  contrariety  that  is  in  it  to  the  nature  of  God 
is  discovered  in  the  immediate  light  of  all  his  perfec- 
tions, his  wisdom,  his  truth,  and  his  goodness.  They 
behold  the  evil  of  sin  in  the  marks  of  the  sufferings 
of  their  blessed  Saviour;  he  appears  in  glory  as  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  carries  some  memorials  of 
his  death  about  him,  to  let  the  saints  know  for  ever 
what  he  has  suffered  to  make  atonement  for  their 
sins. 

Nor  have  the  blessed  above,  any  need  to  learn 
how  dreadfully  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners, 
while  they  behold  his  indignation  going  forth  in  a 
long  and  endless  stream,  to  make  the  wicked  enemies 
of  God  in  hell  for  ever  justly  miserable;  and  in  this 
sense  it  may  be  said,  that  the  smoke  of  their  torment 
comes  up  before  God  and  his  holy  angels,  and  his 
saints  for  ever. 

Nor  do  these  happy  beings  stand  in  need  of  new 
sensations  of  pain,  to  teach  them  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  the  lov.e  of  Christ,  who  exposed  himself  to  in- 
tense and  smarting  anguish,  both  of  flesh  and  spirit, 
to  procure  their  salvation;  for  while  they  dwell 
amidst  the  blessedness  of  that  state,  which  the  Re- 
deemer purchased  with  the  price  of  his  own  suffer- 
ings, they  can  never  forget  his  love. 

Nor  do  they  want  to  learn  in  heaven  the  value  of 


238  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

the  word  of  God  and  his  promises,  by  which  they 
were  supported  under  their  pains  and  sorrows  in  this 
mortal  state.  Those  promises  have  been  fulfilled  to 
them  partly  on  earth,  and  in  a more  glorious  and 
abundant  manner  in  the  heavenly  world.  They  re- 
lish the  sweetness  of  all  those  words  of  mercy,  in  re- 
viewing the  means  whereby  divine  grace  sustained 
them  in  their  former  state  of  trial,  and  in  the  com- 
plete accomplishment  of  the  best  of  those  promises  in 
their  present  situation  amidst  ten  thousand  endless 
blessings. 

And  if  any  of  them  were  too  cold  and  remiss,  and 
unfrequent  in  their  applications  to  the  mercy-seat  by 
prayer,  when  they  were  here  on  earth,  and  stood  in 
need  of  chastisement  to  make  them  pour  eut  their 
prayers  to  God,  yet  they  can  never  forget  the  value  of 
this  privilege,  while  they  themselves  dwell  round 
about  the  throne,  and  behold  all  their  ancient  sin- 
cere addresses  to  the  mercy-seat  answered  and  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  full  fruition  of  their  present  glories 
and  joys.  Praise  is  properly  the  language  of  heaven, 
when  all  their  wants  are  supplied,  and  their  prayers 
on  earth  are  finished;  and  whatever  farther  desires 
they  may  have  to  present  before  God,  the  throne  of 
grace  is  ever  at  hand,  and  God  himself  is  ever  in  the 
midst  of  them  to  bestow  every  proper  blessing  in  its 
season  that  belongs  to  the  heavenly  world.  Not  one 
of  them  can  any  more  stand  in  need  of  chastisement 
or  painful  exercises  of  the  flesh  to  drive  them  to  the 
throne  of  God,  while  they  are  at  home  in  their  Fa- 
ther’s house,  and  for  ever  near  him  and  his  all  suffi- 
ciency. It  is  from  thence  they  are  constantly  de- 
riving immortal  supplies  of  blessedness,  as  from  a 
spring  that  will  never  fail. 

SECTION  V. 

I proceed  now  to  consider  in  the  last  place,  what 
are  the  practical  lessons  which  pain  may  teach  us 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  239 

while  we  are  here  on  earth  in  our  state  of  probation 
and  discipline,  and  shall  afterward  make  it  evident, 
that  there  is  no  need  of  pain  in  heaven  for  the  same 
purposes. 

1.  The  frequent  returns  of  pain  may  put  us  in 
mind  to  offer  to  God  his  due  sacrifices  of  praise  for 
the  months  and  years  of  ease  which  we  have  enjoyed : 
we  are  too  ready  to  forget  the  mercy  of  God  herein, 
unless  we  are  awakened  by  new  and  painful  sensa- 
tions; and  when  we  experience  new  relief,  then  our 
lips  are  opened  with  thankfulness,  and  our  mouth 
shows  forth  his  praise.;  then  we  cry  out  with  devout 
language,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  has  delivered  us! 
When  we  have  been  oppressed  for  some  time  with 
extreme  anguish,  then  one  day,  or  one  hour  of  ease 
fills  the  heart  and  the  tongue  with  thankfulness; 
blessed  be  the  God  of  nature  that  has  appointed  me- 
dicines to  restore  our  ease,  and  blessed  be  that  good- 
ness that  has  given  success  to  them  ! What  a rich 
mercy  is  il  under  our  acute  torments,  that  there  are 
methods  of  relief  and  healing  found  among  the  pow- 
ers of  nature,  among  the  plants  and  the  herbs,  and 
the  mineral  stores  which  are  under  ground.  Bless- 
ed be  the  Lord,  who  in  the  course  of  his  providence 
has  given  skill  to  physicians  to  compose  and  to  apply 
the  proper  means  of  relief!  Blessed  be  that  hand 
that  has  planted  every  herb  in  the  field  or  the  garden, 
and  has  made  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  teem  with 
medicines  for  the  recovery  of  our  health  and  ease; 
and  blessed  be  his  name  who  has  rebuked  our  mala- 
dies, who  has  constrained  the  smarting  diseases  to  de- 
part by  the  use  of  balms  and  balsams  that  are  hap- 
pily applied! 

While  we  enjoy  the  benefits  of  common  life,  in 
health  of  body  and  in  easy  circumstances  we  are  too 
often  thoughtless  of  the  hand  of  God,  which  showers 
down  these  favours  of  heaven  upon  us  in  a long  and 
constant  succession  ; but  when  he  sees  fit  to  touch  us 


240 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


with  his  finger,  and  awaken  some  lurking  malady 
within  us,  our  ease  vanishes,  our  days  are  restless  and 
painful,  and  tiresome  nights  of  darkness  pass  over  us 
without  sleep  or  repose.  Then  we  repent  that  we 
have  so  long  forgotten  the  God  of  our  mercies;  and 
we  learn  to  lift  up  our  praises  to  the  Lord,  that  every 
night  of  our  lives  has  not  been  restless,  that  every  day 
and  hour  has  not  been  a season  of  racking  pain. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  enables  us,  without  anguish 
or  uneasiness,  to  fulfil  the  common  business  of  the 
day;  and  blessed  be  his  hand  that  draws  the  peaceful 
curtains  of  the  night  round  about  us!  And  even  in 
the  midst  of  moderate  pains,  we  bless  his  name  who 
gives  us  refreshing  slumbers;  and  we  grow  more 
careful  to  employ  and  improve  every  moment  of  re- 
turning ease,  as  the  most  proper  way  of  expressing 
our  thankfulness  to  our  Almighty  healer. 

Alas,  what  poor,  sorry,  sinful  creatures  are  we  in 
the  present  state,  who  want  to  be  taught  the  value  of 
our  mercies  by  the  removal  of  them!  The  man  of  a 
robust  and  vigorous  make,  and  a healthy  constitution, 
knows  not  the  true  worth  of  health  and  ease,  nor  sets 
a due  value  upon  these  blessings  of  heaven;  but  we 
are  taught  to  thank  God  feelingly  for  an  easy  hour 
after  long  repeated  twinges  of  pain;  we  bless  that 
goodness  which  gives  us  an  easy  night  after  a day  of 
distressing  anguish.  Blessed  be  the  God  of  nature 
and  grace,  that  has  not  made  the  gout  or  the  stone 
immortal,  nor  subjected  our  sensible  powers  to  an 
everlasting  colic  or  tooth-ach. 

2.  Pain  in  the  flesh  more  effectually  teaches  us  to 
sympathize  with  those  who  suffer.  We  learn  a tender- 
ness of  soul  experimentally  by  our  own  sufferings. 
We  generally  love  self  so  well,  that  we  forget  our 
neighbours  under  special  tribulation  and  distress, 
unless  we  are  made  to  feel  them  too.  In  a particular 
manner,  when  our  nature  is  pinched  and  pierced 
through  with  some  smarting  malady,  we  learn  to  pity 


NO  PATN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


241 


those  who  lie  groaning  under  the  same  disease.  A 
kindred  of  sorrows  and  sufferings  works  up  our  na- 
tures into  compassion,  and  we  find  our  own  hearts 
more  sensibly  affected  with  the  groans  of  our  friends 
under  a sharp  fit  of  the  gout  or  rheumatism,  when 
we  ourselves  have  felt  the  stings  of  the  same  dis- 
temper. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  though  he  wanted 
not  compassion  and  love  to  the  children  of  men,  since 
he  came  down  from  heaven  on  purpose  to  die  for  them, 
yet  he  is  represented  to  us  as  our  merciful  High  Priest, 
who  bad  learned  sympathy  and  compassion  to  our  sor- 
rows in  the  same  way  of  experience  as  we  learn  it. 
He  was  encompassed  about  with  infirmities,  when  he 
took  the  sinless  frailties  of  our  nature  upon  him, 
that  he  might  learn  to  pity  us  under  those  frailties. 
In  that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is 
able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted : for  we  have 
not  a High  Priest  which  cannot  be  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  was  in  all  points  like 
as  we  are,  though  he  was  always  without  sin ; and  by 
the  things  which  he  suffered,  he  may  be  said,  after 
the  manner  of  men,  to  learn  sympathy  and  pity  to 
miserable  creatures,  as  well  as  obedience  to  God,  who 
is  blessed  for  ever,  Heb.  ii.  18:  and  iv.  15:  and  v. 
2,  8. 

3.  Since  our  natures  are  subject  to  pain,  it  should 
teach  us  watchfulness  against  every  sin,  lest  we  double 
our  own  distresses  by  the  mixture  of  guilt  with  them 
How  careful  should  we  be  to  keep  always  a clear 
conscience,  that  we  may  be  able  at  all  times  to  look 
up  with  pleasure  to  the  hand  of  God  who  smites  us, 
and  be  better  composed  to  endure  the  pains  which  he 
inflicts  upon  us  for  our  trial  and  improvement  in 
grace.  Innocence  and  piety,  and  a peaceful  con- 
science, are  an  admirable  defence  to  support  the  spirit 
against  the  overwhelming  elforts  of  bodily  pain;  but 
when  inward  reproaches  of  mind,  and  a racking  con- 
22 


242  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

science  join  with  acute  pain  in  the  flesh,  it  is  double 
misery,  and  aggravated  wretchedness.  The  scourges 
and  inward  remorse  of  our  own  hearts,  joined  to  the 
sorrows  of  nature,  add  torment  to  torment.  How 
dreadful  is  it  when  we  are  forced  to  confess,  I have 
procured  all  this  to  myself  by  intemperance,  by  my 
rashness,  by  my  obstinacy  against  the  advice  of 
friends  and  rebellion  against  the  commands  of  God! 

Probably  it  was  such  circumstances  as  these,  that 
gave  the  soul  of  David  double  anguish,  when  his 
bones  waxed  old  through  his  roaring  all  the  day  long, 
when  day  and  night  the  hand  of  God  was  heavy  upon 
him,  and  his  moisture  was  ttirned  into  the  drought 
of  summer;  when  he  complained  unto  God,  “Thine 
arrows  stick  fast  in  me,  and  thy  hand  presseth  me  sore: 
there  is  no  soundness  in  my  flesh,  because  of  thine 
anger;  nor  any  rest  in  my  bones,  because  of  my  sin. 
Mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  mine  head,  as  a heavy 
burden:  they  are  too  heavy  for  me.  Deep  calls 
unto  deep  at  the  noise  of  thy  water-spouts,  all  thy 
waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over  me.”  The  deep 
of  anguish  in  my  flesh  calls  to  the  deep  of  sorrow  in 
my  soul,  and  makes  a tremendous  tumult  within  me. 
“My  wounds  stink,  and  are  corrupt,  because  of  my 
foolishness;  I am  feeble  and  sore  broken;  I have 
roared  by  reason  of  the  disquietness  of  my  heart.” 
Nor  could  he  find  any  rest  or  ease  till  he  acknowledged 
his  sin  unto  God,  and  confessed  his  transgressions, 
and  till  he  had  some  comfortable  hope  that  God  had 
forgiven  the  iniquity  of  his  sin.  See  this  sorrowful 
scene  exemplified  in  a very  affecting  manner  in  the 
32d  and  38th  Psalms.  Happy  is  the  man  that 
walks  closely  with  his  God  in  the  days  of  health  and 
ease,  that  whenever  it  shall  please  his  heavenly  Fa- 
ther to  try  him  with  smarting  pain,  he  may  find 
sweet  relief  from  a peaceful  conscience,  and  humble 
appeals  to  God  concerning  his  own  sincerity  and 
watchfulness. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


243 


4.  Pain  in  the  flesh  may  sometimes  be  sent  by  the 
hand  of  God  to  teach  us  to  wean  ourselves  by  degrees 
from  this  body,  which  we  love  too  well;  this  body, 
which  has  all  the  springs  of  pain  in  it.  How  little 
should  we  be  fond  of  this  flesh  and  blood  in  the  pre- 
sent feeble  state,  wherein  we  are  continually  liable  to 
one  malady  or  another;  to  the  head-ache  or  the  heart- 
ache, to  wounds  or  bruises,  and  uneasy  sensations  of 
various  kinds!  nor  can  the  soul  secure  itself  from 
them,  while  it  is  so  closely  united  to  this  mortal  body. 
And  yet  we  are  too  fond  of  our  present  dwelling, 
though  it  be  but  a cottage  of  clay,  feeble  and  ruinous 
where  the  winds  and  the  storms  are  continually  ready 
to  break  in  and  distress  us.  A sorry  habitation  in- 
deed for  an  immortal  spirit,  since  sin  has  mingled  so 
many  diseases  in  our  constitution,  has  made  so  many 
avenues  for  smart  and  anguish  in  our  flesh,  and  we 
are  capable  of  admitting  pain  and  agonies  at  every 
pore. 

Pain  is  appointed  to  be  a sort  of  balance  to  the 
tempting  pleasures  of  life,  and  to  make  us  feel  that 
perfect  happiness  does  not  grow  among  the  inhabi- 
tants of  flesh  and  blood.  Pain  takes  away  the  plea- 
sures of  the  day  and  the  repose  of  the  night,  and  makes 
life  bitter  in  all  the  returning  seasons.  The  God  of 
nature  and  grace  is  pleased  by  sending  sickness  and 
pain,  to  loosen  his  own  children  by  degrees  from  their 
fond  attachment  to  this  fleshly  tabernacle,  and  to  make 
us  willing  to  depart  at  his  call. 

A long  continuance  of  pain,  or  the  frequent  re- 
peated twinges  of  it,  will  teach  a Christian  and  incline 
him  to  meet  death  with  courage  at  the  appointed 
hour  of  release.  This  will  much  abate  the  fierceness 
of  the  king  of  terrors  when  he  appears  as  a sovereign 
physician  to  finish  every  malady  of  nature.  Death  is 
sanctified  to  the  holy  soul,  and  by  the  covenant  of 
grace  this  curse  of  nature  is  changed  into  a blessing. 
The  grave  is  a safe  retiring  place  from  all  the  attacks 


244 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


of  disease  and  anguish;  and  there  are  some  incura- 
bles here  on  earth,  which  can  find  no  perfect  relief 
but  in  the  grave.  Neither  maladies  nor  tyrants 
can  stretch  their  terrors  beyond  this  life;  and  if  we 
can  but  look  upon  death  as  a conquered  enemy,  and 
its  sting  taken  away  by  the  death  of  Christ,  we  shall 
easily  venture  into  this  last  combat,  and  obtain  an 
everlasting  victory.  Blessed  be  God  for  the  grave  as 
a refuge  from  smarting  pains!  Thanks  be  to  God 
through  Christ  Jesus,  who  enables  us  to  triumph 
over  the  last  pain  of  nature,  and  to  say,  “O  death, 
where  is  thy  sting?”  and  “ O grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory?” 

In  the  fifth  and  last  place,  by  the  pains  that  we  suf- 
fer in  this  body,  we  are  taught  to  breathe  after  the 
blessedness  of  the  heavenly  state,  wherein  there  shall 
be  no  pain.  When  the  soul  is  dismissed  from  the 
bonds  of  flesh,  and  presented  before  God  in  the  world 
of  spirits  without  spot  or  blemish  by  Jesus  our  great 
Forerunner,  it  is  then  appointed  to  dwell  among 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  who  were  all  re- 
leased in  their  several  seasons  from  the  body  of  flesh 
and  sin.  Maladies  and  infirmities  of  every  kind  are 
buried  in  the  grave,  and  cease  for  ever;  and  if  we 
survey  the  properties  of  the  new-raised  body  in  the 
great  resurrection-day,  as  described  1 Cor.  xv.,  we 
shall  find  no  room  for  pain  there,  no  avenue  or  resi- 
dence for  smart  or  anguish.  It  will  not  be  such  a body 
of  flesh  and  blood  which  can  be  a source  of  mala- 
dies or  subject  to  outward  injuries;  but  by  its  own 
principles  of  innate  vigour  and* immortality,  as  well 
as  by  the  power  and  mercy  of  God,  it  shall  be  for 
ever  secure  from  those  uneasy  sensations  which  made 
our  flesh  on  earth  painful  and  burdensome,  and  which 
tended  toward  dissolution  and  death.  It  is  such  a 
body  as  our  Lord  Jesus  wore  at  his  ascent  to  heaven 
in  a bright  cloud,  for  ever  incorruptible;  for  “flesh 
and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  neither 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


245 


doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption.”  As  we  have 
borne  the  image  of  the  earthly  Adam  in  the  frailties 
and  sufferings  that  belong  to  it,  “ so  shall  we  also 
bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly,”  even  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  “ who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may 
be  fashioned  like  unto  his  own  glorious  body,  ac- 
cording to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  sub- 
due all  things  unto  himself,”  Phil.  iii.  21.  We  shall 
hunger  no  more,  we  shall  thirst  no  more,  nor  shall 
the  sun  light  on  us  with  its  parching  beams,  nor 
shall  we  be  annoyed  with  fire  or  frost,  with  heat  or 
cold,  in  those  temperate  and  happy  regions.  The 
Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed 
his  people  for  ever  there  with  the  fruits  of  the  tree  of 
life,  and  with  unknown  entertainments  suited  to  a 
glorified  state.  “He  shall  lead  them  to  living  foun- 
tains of  waters,  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes.” 

Thus  have  I set  before  you  the  practical  lessons 
which  pain  is  designed  to  teach  us  in  our  present 
state ; and  we  find  that  a body  subject  to  maladies  and 
pains,  is  a well-appointed  school,  wherein  our  great 
Master  gives  us  these  divine  instructions,  and  trains 
us  up  by  degrees  for  the  heavenly  world.  It  is 
rough  discipline  indeed  for  the  flesh,  but  it  is  whole- 
some for  the  soul : and  there  is  many  a Christian 
here  on  earth  that  have  been  made  to  confess,  they 
had  never  learnt  the  practice  of  some  of  -these  vir- 
tues, if  they  had  not  been  taught  by  such  sort  of  dis- 
cipline. Pain,  which  was  brought  into  human  na- 
ture at  first  by  sin,  is  happily  suited  by  the  provi- 
dence of  God  to  such  a state  of  probation,  wherein 
creatures  born  in  the  midst  of  sins  and  sorrows  are  by 
degrees  recovered  to  the  love  of  God  and  holiness,  and 
fitted  for  a world  of  peace  and  joy. 

But  when  we  have  done  with  this  world,  and  de- 
parted from  the  tribes  of  mortal  men,  and  from  all 
the  scenes  of  allurement  and  temptation,  there  is  no 

22* 


246  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

more  need  that  such  lessons  should  be  taught  us  in 
heaven,  nor  any  painful  scourge  made  use  of  by  the 
Father  of  spirits,  to  carry  on  or  to  maintain  the  di- 
vine work  of  holiness  and  grace  within  us.  Let  us 
survey  this  matter  according  to  the  foregoing  parti- 
culars. 

Is  it  possible  that  while  the  blessed  above  are  sur- 
rounded with  endless  satisfactions  flowing  from  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  they  should  forget 
their  Benefactor,  and  neglect  his  praises?  Is  it  pos- 
sible they  should  dwell  in  immortal  health  and  ease 
without  interruption,  under  the  constant  vital  in- 
fluences of  the  King  of  glory,  and  yet  want  gratitude 
to  the  Spring  of  all  their  blessings? 

Nor  is  there  any  need  for  the  inhabitants  of  a 
world,  where  no  pains  nor  sorrows  are  found,  to 
learn  compassion  and  sympathy  to  those  who  suffer, 
for  there  are  no  sufferers  there:  but  love  and  joy,  in- 
tense and  intimate  love,  and  a harmony  of  joy,  runs 
through  all  that  blessed  company,  and  unites  them 
in  a universal  sympathy,  (if  I may  so  express  it,)  or 
blissful  sensation  of  each  other’s  happiness.  And  I 
might  add  also,  could  there  be  such  a thing  as  sor- 
row and  misery  in  those  regions,  this  divine  princi- 
ple of  love  would  work  sweetly  and  powerfully  to- 
wards such  objects  in  all  necessary  compassion. 

What  if  pain  was  once  made  a spur  to  our  duties 
in  this  frail  state  of  flesh  and  blood?  What  if  pain 
were  designed  as  a guard  against  temptation,  and  a 
means  to  awaken  our  watch  against  new  transgres- 
sion and  guilt?  But  in  a climate  where  all  is  holi- 
ness, and  all  is  peace,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
great  God  and  secured  by  that  everlasting  covenant 
which  was  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  there 
is  no  more  danger  of  sinning.  The  soul  is  moulded 
into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  God,  by  living 
for  ever  under  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  the 
warmest  beams  of  his  love. 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


247 


What  if  we  had  need  of  the  stings  of  pain  and 
anguish  in  time  past,  to  wean  us  by  degrees  from 
this  body,  and  from  all  sensible  things,  and  to  make 
us  willing  to  part  with  them  all  at  the  call  of  God? 
Yet  when  we  arrive  at  the  heavenly  world,  we  shall 
have  no  more  need  of  being  weaned  from  earth,  we 
shall  never  look  back  upon  that  state  of  pain  and 
frailty  with  a wishful  eye,  being  for  ever  satisfied  in 
the  affluence  of  present  joys. 

O glorious  and  happy  state!  where  millions  of 
creatures  who  have  dwelt  in  bodies  of  sin  and  pain, 
and  have  been  guilty  of  innumerable  follies  and 
offences  against  their  Maker,  yet  are  all  forgiven ; 
their  robes  are  washed,  and  made  white  in  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  their  iniquities  are  cancelled  for  ever,  and 
there  shall  not  be  one  stroke  more  from  the  hand  of 
God  to  chasten  them,  nor  one  more  sensation  of  pain 
to  punish  them.  Divine  and  illustrious  privilege  in- 
deed, and  a glorious  world,  where  complete  sanctifi- 
cation of  all  the  powers  of  nature  shall  for  ever  se- 
cure us  from  new  sins,  and  where  the  springs  and 
causes  of  pain  shall  for  ever  cease,  both  within  us  and 
without  us.  Our  glorified  bodies  shall  have  no  ave- 
nue for  pain  to  enter;  the  gates  of  heaven  shall  admit 
no  enemy  to  afflict  or  hurt  us;  God  is  our  everlasting 
friend,  and  our  souls  shall  be  satisfied  with  the  rivers 
of  pleasure  which  grow  for  ever  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  Amen. 


A i - 


.(IS  .HHT  k V’.i  AH 

- 

i i f ..a  ! v,;  ,r>7?- • of  ?:u  d*iu$<f.€. 

. -.0  •.  ■ ' • ..  :■;•;?  - : ■ if-  k . 'I  • 

■■’n)  k i f ?>- v ^kin  I, ,w>Ai  rfJi  •••  a|  -.  ulir^  wu 

■ , ■ .'  -.  r --  • v*  i-Y»" 

■"  a;  • rv:  1 - • - ••■  ■;-.{■  ^v.\ 

\--rn\  . ' k • ;■•••  •;  V ' , " ,;v,  ■'  tOn  : H-f.% 

•iii  i !>yr?  & rgm--:  •••^.  /Jli/n! 

. ;;  • k • ■•'  - |>u  ■ i . (i 

: ■-■■"■•*  k i -a  -riok  •*  ■ i\  i •/.'  • . : 

•■'  ■ : r r,-  m-l  1 >■%••':'  r:^;L  3^0  k?  : 

• ' 4*.  : • - , ? » 

• ■ r , V ' , -n/.-rn  1 :>■ 

io  ■'  . o'v  o * r;i  ■■  - -m  • - ’ i ■ 

, : • ■:  .:?t.  ■ • i t . ' r:  V -•  . 

- f fia  . • ^ r u M‘  k > . * 

• H ■ ■:.. . k CJ  ■ . il  ■ 

*>3)  • - .0  ; 37,  ■ . . 

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’•  '-Jf  '■■■■'!&■><' i II:  > (UiUjyil  3jf?!&iiU:U 

■ 1 . ■ . ’ • .’•  . ’OV;  U'rf 

: 'I  , ' > <;f  ?: 

. 

£ *'  )*  '*  ■ ’ 0-i.  it* >i  ('••Hi' 

• ' * _ i ■ - . - - 

M v A • ' ( 


.. 


DISCOURSE  X. 


THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  OR,  THE 
FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 

Rom.  viii.  23. 

And  not  only  they , hut  ourselves  also , who  have  the  first  fruits  of 
the  Spirit , even  we  ourselves , groan  within  ourselves , waiting 
for  the  adoption , that  is,  the  redemption  of  the  body. 


SECTION  I. 

It  is  by  a beautiful  figure  of  speech  the  apostle 
had  been  describing,  in  the  foregoing  verses,  the  un- 
natural abuse  which  the  creatures  suffer  through 
the  sins  of  men,  when  they  are  employed  to  sinful 
purposes  and  the  dishonour  of  God  their  Creator. 
Permit  me  to  read  the  words  and  represent  ihe  sense 
of  them  in  a short  paraphrase.  Yer.  22 : “ We  know 
that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 
pain  together  until  now.”  The  earth  itself  may  be 
represented  as  groaning  to  bear  such  loads  of  iniquity, 
such  a multitude  of  wicked  men  who  abuse  the  crea- 
tures of  God  to  the  dishonour  of  him  that  made  them. 
The  air  may  be  said  to  groan  to  give  breath  to  those 
vile  wretches  who  abuse  it  in  filthiness  and  foolish 
talking,  to  the  dishonour  of  God,  and  to  the  scandal 
of  their  neighbours;  it  groans  to  furnish  men  with 
breath  that  is  abused  in  idolatry  by  the  false  worship 
of  the  true  God,  or  the  worship  of  creatures  which  is 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


250 

abominable  in  his  sight.  The  sun  itself  may  be  said 
to  groan  to  give  light  to  those  sinners  who  abuse  both 
day-light  and  darkness  in  rioting  and  wantonness, 
in  doing  mischief  among  men  and  committing  fresh 
iniquities  against  their  Maker.  The  moon  and  stars 
are  abused  by  adulterers  and  thieves,  and  other  mid- 
night sinners,  when  they  any  way  afford  light  enough 
to  them  to  guide  them  in  their  pursuit  of  wicked  ways 
and  practices.  The  beasts  of  burden  may  be  said  also 
to  groan  and  be  abused,  when  they  bear  the  wicked 
sons  and  daughters  of  Adam  to  the  accomplishment  of 
their  iniquities:  and  even  all  the  parts  of  the  brutal 
world,  as  wrell  as  of  the  inanimate  creation,  are  some 
way  or  other  made  to  serve  the  detestable  and  wicked 
purposes  of  the  sinful  children  of  men,  and  may  be 
figuratively  said  to  groan  on  this  account.  And  if 
we  have  tasted  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  of  grace,  w^e 
cannot  but  in  some  measure  groan  with  the  rest  of 
the  creation  in  expectation  of  the  blessed  day,  when 
the  creatures  shall  be  delivered  from  this  bondage 
of  corruption,  to  which  the  providence  of  God  has 
suffered  them  to  be  subjected  in  this  degenerate 
state  of  things. 

We  hope  there  is  a time  coming,  when  the  crea- 
tures themselves  shall  be  used  according  to  the  ori- 
ginal appointment  of  their  Maker,  agreeable  to  their 
own  first  design,  and  for  the  good  of  their  fellow 
creatures,  and  supremely  for  the  honour  of  their  God 
in  that  day  when  “ holiness  unto  the  Lord  shall  be 
written  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses;”  and  every  pot 
in  Jerusalem  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  Why  should  we  not  join  them  with  the  whole 
creation  in  groaning  and  longing  after  this  promised 
time,  when  all  the  works  of  God  shall  be  restored  to 
their  rightful  use,  and  the  glory  of  the  Maker  shall 
some  way  or  other  be  made  to  shine  in  every  one  of 
them? 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


251 


The  apostle  then  adds,  in  the  words  of  my  text, 
and  not  these  creatures  only,  but  ourselves  also  who 
have  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  we  who  are  filled 
with  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  emi- 
nently Ihe  first  fruits  hereof  appear  in  our  taste  and 
relish  of  the  divine  provisions  that  God  has  given  us 
here  in  this  world  to  prepare  for  a better:  and  even 
bestows  upon  some  of  his  Christian  servants  these 
first  fruits  of  the  tree  of  paradise,  these  blessings  and 
these  foretastes  which  are  near  akin  to  those  of  the 
upper  world,  when  the  saints  shall  be  raised  from  the 
dead,  when  their  adoption  shall  be  clearly  manifested, 
and  they  shall  look  like  the  children  of  God,  and  their 
bodies  and  all  their  natural  powers  shall  be  redeem- 
ed from  those  disorders,  whether  of  sin  or  sorrow, 
and  from  all  the  springs  and  seeds  of  them,  which 
they  are  more  or  less  liable  to  feel  in  the  present 
state. 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  the  first  fruits  of  any 
field,  or  plant,  or  tree,  are  of  the  same  kind  with  the 
full  product  or  the  harvest:  therefore  it  is  plain,  that 
the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  this  place  cannot  chiefly 
signify  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  such  as  the  gifts  of 
tongues,  or  of  healing,  or  of  miracles,  nor  the  gifts 
of  prophecy,  preaching,  or  praying,  because  these  are 
not  the  employments  nor  the  enjoyments  of  heaven. 
The  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit  must  rather  refer  there- 
fore to  the  knowledge  and  holiness,  the  graces  and 
the  joys  which  are  more  perfect  and  glorious  in  the 
heavenly  state,  than  they  were  ever  designed  to  be 
here  upon  earth.  Now  these  first  fruits  of  graces 
and  joys  are  sometimes  bestowed  upon  Christians  in 
this  world,  in  such  a degree  as  brings  them  near  to 
the  heavenly  state;  and  that  is  the  chief  observation 
I design  to  draw  from  these  words,  viz : That  God  has 
been  pleased  to  give  some  of  his  children  here  on 
earth  several  of  the  foretastes  of  the  heavenly  blessed- 
ness, the  graces  and  the  joys  of  the  upper  world ; as 


252 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


they  are  the  first  fruits  of  that  paradise  to  which  we 
are  travelling;  and  these  privileges  have  brought 
some  of  the  saints  within  the  verge  of  the  courts  of 
heaven,  within  the  confines  and  borders  of  the  celes- 
tial country.  What  these  are  I shall  show  immedi- 
ately; but  before  I represent  them  I desire  to  lay 
down  these  few  cautions. 

Caution  1.  These  sensible  foretastes  of  heaven  do 
not  belong  to  all  Christians;  these  are  not  such  ge- 
neral blessings  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  of  which 
every  Christian  is  made  partaker;  but  they  are  spe- 
. cial  favours  now  and  then  bestowed  on  some  particu- 
lar persons  by  the  special  will  of  God.  1 . Such  as  are 
more  eminent  in  faith,  and  holiness,  and  prayer  than 
others  are,  such  as  have  made  great  advancements 
in  every  part  of  religion,  in  mortification  to  the  world, 
in  spiritual-mindedness,in  humility,  and  in  much  con- 
verse with  God,  &c.  Or,  2.  Sometimes  these  first 
fruits  may  be  given  unto  such  as  are  weak  both  in 
reason  and  in  faith,  and  may  be  babes  in  Christ,  and 
are  not  able  by  their  reasoning  powers  to  search  out 
their  evidences  for  heaven,  especially  under  some 
present  temptation  or  darkness.  Or,  3.  Sometimes 
to  those  who  are  called  by  Providence  to  go  through 
huge  and  uncommon  trials  and  sufferings,  in  order 
to  support  their  spirits,  and  bear  up  their  courage, 
their  faith  and  patience. 

It  is  true,  the  more  general  and  common  wTay 
whereby  God  prepares  his  people  for  heaven,  is  by 
leading  them  through  several  steps  of  advancing 
holiness,  sincere  repentance,  mortification  of  sin, 
weanednessfrom  the  world,  likeness  to  God,  heavenly- 
mindedness, &c.  These  are  indeed  the  usual  prepa- 
ratives for  glory,  and  the  surest  evidences  of  a state  of 
grace.  Therefore  let  not  any  person  imagine  he  is 
not  a true  Christian,  because  he  hath  not  enjoyed  these 
special  favours  and  signal  manifestations. 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


253 


Caution  2.  If  there  be  any  who  have  been  fa- 
voured with  these  peculiar  blessings,  thay  must  not 
expect  them  to  be  constant  and  perpetual,  nor  always 
to  be  given  in  the  same  manner  or  same  measure; 
they  are  rare  blessings  and  special  reviving  cordials; 
they  are  not  the  common  food  of  Christians,  nor  the 
daily  nourishment  of  the  saints.  The  word  of  God, 
and  the  grace  of  Christ  in  the  promises  is  our  daily 
support,  and  the  constant  nourishment  of  our  souls. 
Cordials  are  not  given  for  our  daily  nourishment  in 
the  life  of  grace. 

Caution  3.  However  great  and  rapturous  these 
foretastes  may  be,  let  us  not  so  depend  on  them  as  to 
neglect  the  more  substantial  and  solid  evidences  for 
heaven,  and  those  steps  of  preparation  which  I have 
elsewhere  mentioned.  Let  not  those  who  have  en- 
joyed them  give  a loose  to  their  souls,  and  let  go 
their  watchfulness,  or  neglect  their  daily  mortifica- 
tion and  diligence  in  every  duty.  Some  of  these  di- 
vine raptures  have  sometimes  been  so  nearly  counter- 
feited by  raptures  of  fancy,  by  warm  self-love,  or 
perhaps  by  the  deceit  of  evil  angels,  that  they  are  not 
so  safe  a foundation  for  our  dependence  and  assured 
hope,  as  the  soul’s  experience  of  a sincere  repentance, 
and  general  turn  of  heart  to  God,  and  mortification 
of  sin,  and  delight  in  every  practice  of  holiness.  The 
devil  sometimes  has  transformed  himself  into  an  an- 
gel of  light,  2 Cor.  xi.  14.  And  there  have  been 
some  who  at  first  hearing  of  the  gospel  have  had 
wondrous  raptures.  Heb.  vi.  4:  It  is  said,  they  have 
tasted  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  &c.,  who 
have  yet  fallen  away  again,  and  having  lost  all  their 
sense  and  savour  of  divine  things,  have  become  vile 
apostates. 

Caution  4.  If  you  seem  to  enjoy  any  of  these  af- 
fectionate and  rapturous  foretastes  of  heaven,  be  jea- 
lous of  the  truth  of  them,  if  they  have  not  a propor- 
23 


254 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


tionable  sanctifying  influence  upon  your  souls  and 
your  actions. 

If  you  find  they  incline  you  to  negligence  in  duty, 
to  coldness  in  the  common  practices  of  religion  and 
godliness,  if  they  make  you  fancy  that  common  or- 
dinances are  a low  and  needless  dispensation,  if  they 
seem  to  excuse  you  from  diligence  in  the  common 
duties  of  life  towards  man,  or  religion  towards  God, 
there  is  great  reason  then  to  suspect  them;  there  is 
danger  lest  they  should  be  mere  suggestions  and  de- 
ceitful workings  either  of  yo^r  own  natural  passions, 
or  the  crafty  snares  of  the  artful  and  busy  adversary 
of  souls,  on  purpose  to  make  you  neglect  solid  reli- 
gion, and  make  you  part  with  what  is  substantial  for 
a bright  and  flashy  glimpse  of  heavenly  things. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  find  that  these  spe- 
cial favours  and  enjoyments  raise  your  hearts  to  a 
greater  nearness  to  God,  and  more  constant  converse 
with  him;  if  they  keep  you  deep  in  humility,  and  in 
everlasting  dependence  on  the  grace  of  Christ  in  the 
gospel,  and  warm  and  zealous  attendance  on  the  or- 
dinances of  worship;  if  they  teach  and  incline  you 
to  fulfil  every  duty  of  love  to  your  neighbour,  and 
particularly  to  your  fellow  Christians,  then  they  ap- 
pear to  be  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit;  and  as  they  fit  you 
for  every  duty  and  every  providence  here  upon  earth, 
there  is  very  good  reason  to  hope  they  are  real  visits 
from  heaven,  and  are  sent  from  the  God  of  all  grace 
to  make  you  more  meet  for  the  heavenly  glory. 

SECTION  II. 

These  are  the  four  cautions.  I proceed  now  to  de- 
scribe some  of  these  foretastes  of  the  heavenly  bless- 
edness, and  show  how  nearly  they  resemble  the  bless- 
edness and  enjoyments  of  the  heavenly  world. 

First,  In  heaven  there  is  a near  view  of  God  in 
his  glories,  with  such  a fixed  contemplation  of  his 
several  perfections,  as  draws  out  the  heart  into  all  cor- 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


255 


respondent  exercises,  in  an  uncommon,  transcendent 
and  supreme  degree.  It  is  described  as  one  of  the 
felicities  of  heaven,  that  we  shall  see  God,  Matt.  v. 
8,  that  we  shall  behold  him  face  to  face,  and  not  in 
shadows  and  glasses,  1 Cor.  xiii.  12.  Let  us  exhibit 
some  particulars  of  this  kind,  and  dwell  a little  upon 
them  in  the  most  easy  and  natural  method. 

1.  In  heaven  the  blessed  inhabitants  behold  the 
majesty  and  greatness  of  God  in  such  a light  as  fixes 
their  thoughts  in  glorious  wonder  and  the  humblest 
adoration,  and  exalts  them  to  the  highest  pleasure 
and  praise.  Have  you  never  fallen  into  such  a de- 
vout and  fixed  contemplation  of  the  majesty  of  God, 
as  to  be  even  astonished  at  his  glory  and  greatness, 
and  to  have  your  souls  so  swallowed  up  in  this  sight, 
that  all  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of  this  life,  all  the 
businesses  and  necessities  of  it  have  been  forgotten 
for  a season,  all  things  below  and  beneath  God  have 
seemed  as  nothing  in  your  eyes?  All  the  grandeurs 
and  splendours  of  mortality  have  been  buried  in  dark- 
ness and  oblivion,  and  creatures  have,  as  it  were,  va- 
nished from  the  thoughts  and  been  lost,  as  the  stars 
die  and  vanish  at  the  rising  sun,  and  are  no  more 
seen?  Have  you  never  seen  the  face  of  God  in  his 
sublime  grandeur,  excellence  and  majesty,  so  as  to 
shrink  into  the  dust  before  him  and  lie  low  at  his 
feet  with  humblest  adoration?  And  you  have  been 
transported  into  a feeling  acknowledgment  of  your 
own  nothingness  in  the  presence  of  God.  Such  a 
sight  the  prophet  Isaiah  seems  to  have  enjoyed,  Is. 
lx.  12,  15,  17:  “Behold  the  nations  before  him  are 
as  the  drop  of  the  bucket,  and  as  the  small  dust  of 
the  balance,  he  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a very  little 
thing.  All  nations  before  him  are  as  nothing:  they 
are  counted  to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity.” 

When  the  lips  are  not  only  directed  to  speak  this 
sublime  language,  but  the  Soul,  as  it  were,  beholds 
God  in  these  heights  of  transcendent  majesty,  it  is 


256 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


overwhelmed  with  blessed  wonder  and  surprising  de- 
light, even  while  it  adores  in  most  profound  lowli- 
ness and  self-abasement.  This  is  the  emblem  of  the 
worship  of  the  heavenly  world,  see  Rev.  iv.  10, 
where  the  elders,  saints,  and  prophets,  martyrs,  an- 
gels, and  dominions,  and  principalities  of  the  highest 
degree  cast  down  their  crowns  at  the  foot  of  him  that 
made  them,  and  exalt  God  in  his  supremacy  over  all. 

2.  In  heaven  there  are  such  blessed  and  extensive 
surveys  of  the  infinite  knowledge  of  God,  and  his 
amazing  wisdom  discovered  in  his  works,  as  makes 
even  all  their  own  heavenly  improvements  in  know- 
ledge and  understanding  to  appear  as  mere  igno- 
rance, darkness,  and  folly  before  him.  In  such  an 
hour  as  this  is  the  holy  angels  may  charge  themselves 
with  folly  in  his  sight,  as  he  beholds  them  in  the  im- 
perfection of  their  understanding.  Now  have  you 
never  been  carried  away  in  your  meditations  of  the 
all-comprehensive  knowledge  of  God  to  such  a de- 
gree, as  to  lose  and  abandon  all  your  former  pride 
and  appearances  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  in  all  the 
native  and  acquired  riches  of  it,  and  count  them  all 
as  nothing  in  his  sight?  Have  you  never  looked  up- 
ward to  the  midnight  skies,  and  with  amazement 
sent  your  thoughts  upward  to  him  who  calls  all  the 
stars  by  their  names,  and  brings  them  forth  in  all 
their  sparkling  glories,  who  marshals  them  in  their 
nightly  ranks  and  orders,  and  then  stood  overwhelm- 
ed with  sacred  astonishment  at  the  wisdom  which 
made  and  ranged  them  all  in  their  proper  situations, 
and  there  appointed  them  to  fulfil  ten  thousand  use- 
ful purposes,  and  that  not  only  towards  this  little 
ball  of  earth,  but  to  a multitude  of  upper  planetary 
worlds?  Have  you  never  inquired  into  the  wonders  of 
his  wisdom  in  framing  the  bodies,  the  limbs,  and  the 
senses  of  millions  of  animals,  birds,  and  beasts,  fishes 
and  insects,  as  well  as* men  all  around  this  globe, 
and  who  hath  framed  all  their  organs  and  powers  of 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


257 


nature  with  exquisite  skill,  to  see  and  hear,  to  run 
and  fly,  and  swim,  to  produce  their  young  in  all  their 
proper  forms  and  sizes,  furnished  with  their  various 
powers,  and  to  feed  and  nourish  them  in  their  innu- 
merable shapes  and  colours,  admirable  for  strength 
and  beauty?  And  have  you  not  felt  your  souls  filled 
with  devout  adoration  at  the  unspeakable  and  infinite 
contrivances  of  a God  ? 

And  not  only  his  works  of  creation,  but  of  his  pro- 
vidence too  have  afforded  some  pious  souls  such  de- 
vout amazement.  What  astonishing  wisdom  must 
that  be  which  has  created  mankind  on  earth  near  six 
thousand  years  ago,  and  by  his  divine  word  in  every 
age  continues  to  create  them  or  give  them  being, 
with  all  the  same  natural  powers  and  parts,  beauties, 
and  excellencies!  That  he  hath  wisely  governed  so 
many  millions  of  animals  with  living  souls  or  spirits 
in  them,  so  many  millions  of  intelligent  creatures, 
endued  with  a free  will  of  their  own  to  choose  or  re- 
fuse what  they  will  or  will  not  do,  and  hath  managed 
this  innumerable  company  of  beings  in  all  ages,  not- 
withstanding all  their  different  and  clashing  opinions 
and  customs,  their  crossing  humours,  wills,  and  pas- 
sions in  endless  variety,  and  yet  hath  made  them  all 
subservient  to  his  own  comprehensive  designs  and 
purposes  through  all  ages  of  the  world  and  all  nations 
on  earth!  What  inconceivable  wisdom  is  that  which 
hath  effectually  appointed  them  all  to  centre  in  the 
accomplishment  of  his  own  eternal  counsels!  And 
with  what  overwhelming  amazement  will  this  scene 
appear,  when  he  shall  shut  up  the  theatre  of  this 
earth,  and  fold  up  these  heavens  as  a curtain,  and  this 
visible  structure  of  things  shall  be  laid  in  ashes  ? 
What  an  astonishing  view  must  this  be  of  the  all- 
surveying knowledge,  all-comprehending  wisdom  of 
God,  and  with  what  holy  and  humble  pleasure  must 
the  pious  soul  be  filled  who  takes  in  and  enjoys  this 
scene  of  infinite  varieties  and  wonders?  How  near 

23* 


258 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


doth  such  an  hour  approach  to  the  bliss  of  heaven 
and  the  raptures  of  contemplation,  which  belong  to 
the  blessed  inhabitants  of  it. 

I might  add  something  of  the  almighty  power  of 
God  in  his  creation  and  government  of  the  world,  in 
his  kingdoms  of  nature  and  providence.  Did  not  the 
angels  rejoice  at  the  birth-day  of  this  universe,  and 
those  morning  stars  shout  for  joy  at  the  first  appear- 
ance of  this  creation?  And  what  the  inhabitants  of 
heaven  make  their  song,  may  not  a holy  soul  be  en- 
tertained with  it,  even  to  ecstasy  and  rapture?  I be- 
hold, says  he,  in  divine  meditation,  I behold  this  huge 
structure  of  the  universe  rising  out  of  nothing  at  the 
voice  of  his  command  ; I behold  the  several  planets 
in  their  various  orders  set  a moving  by  the  same 
power.  With  what  delightful  surprise  do  I hear  him 
pronouncing  the  words,  Let  there  be  light,  and  lo,  the 
light  appears!  Let  there  be  earth  and  seas;  let  there 
be  clouds  and  heavens;  let  there  be  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  and  lo,  the  heavens,  and  the  dry  land,  and  the 
waters  appear,  the  clouds  and  the  stars  in  their  vari- 
ous order  and  situation,  and  all  the  parts  arise  all  re- 
plenished with  proper  ornaments  and  animals  accord- 
ing to  his  word.  At  his  command  nature  exists  in  all 
its  regions  with  all  its  furniture;  the  beasts,  and 
birds,  and  fishes  in  all  their  forms  arise,  and  at  once 
they  obey  the  several  a lmighty' orders  he  gave,  and 
by  the  unknown  and  inconceivable  force  of  such  a 
word  they  leap  out  into  existence  in  ten  thousand 
forms. 

Again,  what  divine  pleasure  is  it  to  hear  God  be- 
ginning the  work  of  his  providence,  and  speaking 
those  wondrous  words  of  power  to  every  plant  and 
animal,  “Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth,”  and  lo,  in  a long  succession  of  near  six  thou- 
sand years,  the  earth  has  been  covered  all  over  with 
herbs  and  plants,  with  shrubs  and  tall  trees  in  all  their 
beauty  and  dimensions.  The  air  hath  been  filled 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


259 


with  birds  and  insects,  the  seas  and  rivers  with  fish, 
and  the  dry  land  with  beasts  and  men  even  to  this 
present  day.  When  all  this  philosophy  is  changed 
into  devotion,  it  must  also  be  transformed  into  divine 
and  unutterable  joy. 

Nor  are  these  things  too  low  and  mean  for  the 
contemplation  of  heavenly  beings;  for  God  is  seen 
in  all  of  them;  there  is  not  a spire  of  grass  but  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  a God  are  visible  therein. 
And  it  is  certain  the  heavenly  beings  must  be  some- 
times employed  in  the  contemplation  of  many  of 
these  lower  wonders.  The  plants  and  beasts  in 
desolate  regions  where  no  man  inhabits,  and  in  dis- 
tant and  foreign  oceans  and  rivers,  where  the  fishy 
shoals  in  all  their  variety  and  numbers,  in  all  their 
successions  and  generations  for  near  six  thousand 
years  were  never  seen  nor  known  by  any  of  the  sons 
of  men;  these  seem  to  have  been  created  in  vain,  if 
no  heavenly  beings  are  acquainted  with  them,  nor 
raise  a revenue  of  glory  to  him  that  made  them. 

This  almighty  power  therefore  which  made  this 
huge  universe,  which  sustains  the  frame  of  it  every 
moment,  and  secures  it  from  dissolving,  this  power 
which  brings  forth  the  stars  in  their  order,  and  worms 
and  creeping  things  in  their  innumerable  millions, 
and  governs  all  the  motions  of  them  to  the  purposes 
of  divine  glory,  must  needs  affect  a contemplative 
soul  with  raptures  of  pleasing  meditation;  and  in 
these  sublime  meditations,  by  the  aids  of  the  divine 
Spirit,  a soul  on  earth  may  get  near  to  heaven.  And 
with  what  religious  and  unknown  pleasure  at  such  a 
season  doth  it  shrink  its  own  being  as  it  were  into  an 
atom,  and  lie  in  the  dust  and  adore! 

4,  The  all-sufficiency  of  the  great  God  to  form  and 
to  supply  every  creature  with  all  that  it  can  want  or 
desire  is  another  perfection  of  thedivine  nature,  which 
is  better  known  in  heaven  than  it  ever  was  here  on 
earth,  and  affords  another  scene  of  astonishment  and 


260 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


sacred  delight,  and  there  may  be  some  advances  to- 
wards this  pleasure  found  among  saints  below,  some 
first  fruits  of  this  heavenly  felicity  and  joy  in  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  God. 

My  whole  self,  body  and  mind,  is  from  God,  and 
from  him  alone.  All  my  limbs  and  powers  of  flesh 
and  spirit  were  derived  from  him,  and  borrowed  their 
first  existence  from  their  original  pattern  in  his  fruit- 
ful mind.  All  that  I have  of  life  or  comfort,  of  breath 
or  being,  with  all  my  blessings  round  about  me,  is 
owing  to  his  boundless  and  eternal  fulness;  and  all 
my  long  reaching  hopes  and  endless  expectations  that 
stretch  far  into  futurity,  and  an  eternal  world,  are 
growing  out  of  this  same  all-sufficient  fulness. 

But  what  do  I think  or  speak  of  so  little  a trifle  as  I 
am?  Stretch  thy  thoughts,  O my  soul,  through  the 
lengths,  and  breadths,  and  depths  of  his  creation.  O 
what  an  inconceivable  fulness  of  being,  glory,  and 
excellency  is  found  in  God,  the  universal  parent  and 
spring  of  all ! W hat  an  inexhaustible  ocean  of  being 
and  life,  of  perfection. and  blessedness  must  our  God 
be,  who  supplies  all  the  infinite  armies  of  his  creatures 
in  all  his  known  and  unknown  dominions  with  life 
and  motion,  with  breath  and  activity,  with  food  and 
support,  with  satisfaction  and  delight!  Who  main- 
tains the  vital  powers  and  faculties  of  all  the  spirits 
which  he  hath  made  in  all  the  visible  and  invisible 
worlds,  in  all  his  territories  of  light,  and  peace,  and 
joy,  and  in  all  the  regionsof darkness,  punishment  and 
misery!  In  him  all  things  live,  and  move,  and  have 
their  being,  Acts  xvii.  28.  Psal.  civ.  29.  He  with- 
draws his  breath,  and  they  die.  He  hath  written  down 
all  their  names  in  his  own  mind,  he  gives  them  all 
their  natures,  and  without  him  there  is  nothing,  there 
can  be  nothing;  all  nature  without  him  would  have 
been  a perpetual  blank,  a universal  emptiness,  an 
everlasting  void,  and  with  one  turn  of  his  will  he  could 
sink  and  dissolve  all  nature  into  its  original  nothing. 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


261 


Confess,  O my  soul,  thy  own  nothingness  in  his 
presence,  and  with  astonishing  pleasure  and  worship 
adore  his  fulness;  he  is  thy  everlasting  all.  Be  thy 
dependence  ever  fixed  upon  him ; thou  canst  not,  thou 
shalt  not  live  a moment  without  him,  without  this  ha- 
bitual dependence,  and  a frequent  delightful  ac- 
knowledgment of  it.  Such  a devout  frame  as  this 
is  heaven,  and  such  scenes  now  and  then  passing 
through  the  soul  are  glimpses  of  the  heavenly  bless- 
edness. 

SECTION  III. 

Though  the  eternity  and  immensity  of  God  might 
perhaps  in  their  own  nature,  and  in  the  reason  qf 
things,  be  first  mentioned,  yet  his  majesty,  his  power 
and  his  wisdom  in  their  sovereign  excellency,  strike 
the  souls  of  creatures  more  immediately,  therefore  I 
have  put  these  first.  However,  let  us  now  consider 
the  eternity  of  the  great  God  and  his  omnipresence, 
and  think  how  the  spirits  in  heaven  are  affected  there- 
with, and  what  kindred  meditations  may  be  derived 
from  these  perfections  by  the  saints  here  on  earth. 
I proceed,  therefore, 

5.  To  the  eternity  of  God;  which  though  the  most 
exalted  spirit  in  heaven  cannot  comprehend,  yet  it  is 
probable  they  have  some  nearer  and  clearer  discovery 
of  it,  than  we  can  have  here  in  this  mortal  state,  while 
we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood.  We  have  nothing  in 
this  visible  world  that  gives  us  so  much  as  an  ex- 
ample or  similitude  of  it.  The  great  God  who  is, 
who  was,  and  who  is  to  come  through  all  ages,  he  is, 
and  was,  and  for  ever  will  be  the  same.  Let  us  go 
back  as  many  thousand  ages  as  we  can  in  our 
thoughts,  and  still  an  eternal  God  was  before  them; 
a being  that  had  no  beginning  of  his  existence,  nor 
will  have  any  end  of  his  life  or  duration.  And  as  he 
says  to  Moses,  My  name  is,  u I am  that  I am,”  so  as 
there  is  nothing  which  had  any  hand  in  his  being, 


262 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


but  all  the  reasons  of  it  are  derived  from  his  own 
self-fulness,  therefore  we  may  say  of  him,  that  he  is 
because  he  is,  and  because  he  will  be;  he  had  no 
spring  of  his  first  beginning,  nor  any  cause  of  his 
continued  existence  but  what  is  within  himself.  We 
can  never  set  ourselves  in  too  mean  a light  when  an 
eternal  God  is  near  us;  and  every  thing  besides  God 
can  be  but  little  in  our  eyes. 

And,  O my  thinking  powers,  are  ye  not  sweetly 
lost  in  this  holy  rapture,  and  overpowered  with  Di- 
vine pleasure,  6 my  soul,  in  such  meditation  as  this? 
Art  thou  not  delightfully  surprised  with  the  thoughts 
of  such  self-sufficience  and  such  an  inconceivable  per- 
fection? Thy  being  considered  as  here  in  this  life, 
is  not  so  much  in  the  sight  of  God  as  an  atom  in  com- 
parison of  the  whole  earth;  and  even  the  supposed 
future  ages  of  thy  existence  in  the  eternal  state  are 
inconceivably  short,  when  compared  with  the  glory 
of  that  being  that  never  began  his  life  or  his  duration. 

Many  things  here  on  earth  concur  towards  my  sa- 
tisfaction and  peace,  but  if  I have  God  my  friend,  I 
have  all  in  him  that  I can  possibly  want  or  desire. 
Let  me  then  live  no  longer  upon  creatures  when  God 
is  all. 

Let  sun,  moon  and  stars  vanish,  and  all  this  visi- 
ble creation  disappear  and  be  for  ever  annihilated  if 
God  please,  he  himself  is  still  my  eternal  hope  and 
never-failing  spring  of  all  my  blessedness;  my  ex- 
pectations are  continually  safe  in  his  hands,  and  shall 
never  fail  while  I am  so  near  to  him.  This  is  joy 
unspeakable  and  akin  to  glory. 

6.  Let  us  meditate  also  on  the  immensity  of  God, 
which  I think  is  much  better  expressed  by  his  om- 
nipresence. God  is  wheresoever  any  creature  is  or 
can  be;  knowing  immediately  by  his  own  presence 
all  that  belongs  to  them,  all  that  they  are  or  can  be, 
all  that  they  do  or  can  do,  all  that  concerns  them, 
whether  their  sins  or  their  virtues,  their  pains  or  their 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


263 


pleasures,  their  hopes  or  their  fears.  It  implies  also 
that  he  doth  by  his  immediate  power  and  influence 
support  and  govern  all  the  creatures.  In  short,  this 
immensity  is  nothing  else  but  the  infinite  extent  of 
his  knowledge  and  his  power,  and  it  reaches  to  and 
beyond  all  places  as  eternity  reaches  to  and  beyond 
all  time.  This  the  blessed  above  know  and  rejoice 
in,  and  take  infinite  satisfaction  therein ; having  God 
as  it  were  surrounding  them  on  all  sides,  so  that  they 
cannot  be  where  he  is  not,  he  is  ever  present  with 
his  all-sufficiency  ready  to  bestow  on  them  all  they 
wish  or  desire  while  he  continues  their  God,  that  is, 
for  ever  and  ever.  Thev  are  under  the  blessing  of 
his  eye,  and  the  care  of  his  hand,  to  guard  them  from 
every  evil,  and  to  secure  their  peace. 

Let  thy  flesh  or  spirit  be  surrounded  with  never  so 
many  thousand  dangers  or  enemies,  they  cannot  do 
thee  the  least  damage  without  his  leave  by  force  or  by 
surprise,  while  such  an  almighty  being  is  all  around 
thee;  nor  hast  thou  reason  to  indulge  any  fear  while 
the  spring  and  ocean  of  all  life,  activity,  and  blessed- 
ness thus  secures  thee  on  every  side.  If  thou  hast 
the  evidences  of  his  children  on  thee,  thou  possessest 
an  eternal  security  of  thy  peace. 

7.  The  sovereignty  and  dominion  of  the  blessed 
God  is  a farther  meditation  and  pleasure  which  be- 
comes and  adorns  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly 
world.  There  he  reigns  upon  the  throne  of  his  glo- 
ry, and  the  greater  part  of  the  territories  which  are 
subject  to  him  are  less  in  their  view  than  our  scanty 
powers  of  nature  or  perception  can  now  apprehend, 
and  a proportionable  degree  of  pleasure  is  found  with 
the  saints  above  in  these  contemplations. 

But  in  our  present  state  of  mortality  our  souls  can 
only  look  through  these  lattices  of  flesh  and  blood, 
and  make  a few  scanty  and  imperfect  inferences  from 
what  they  always  see,  and  hear,  and  feel : and  yet 


264 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


the  glorious  sovereignty  and  dominion  of  the  blessed 
God  may  so  penetrate  the  soul  with  a divine  sense  of 
it  here  on  earth  as  to  raise  up  a heaven  of  wonder 
and  joy  within. 

Adore  him,  O my  soul,  who  surveys  and  rules  all 
things  which  he  has  made  with  an  absolute  authority, 
and  is  for  ever  uncontrollable.  How  righteous  a thing 
is  it  that  he  should  give  laws  to  all  the  beings  which 
his  hand  hath  formed,  which  his  breath  hath  spoken 
into  life,  and  especially  that  rank  which  his  favour 
hath  furnished  with  immortality.  How  just  that  he 
should  be  obeyed  by  every  creature  without  the  least 
reluctance  or  reserve,  without  a moment’s  delay,  and 
that  to  all  the  length  of  their  existence. 

Submit  to  his  government  with  pleasure,  O my 
nature,  and  be  all  ye  my  powers  of  soul  and  body  in 
everlasting  readiness  to  do  whatsoever  he  requires, 
and  to  be  whatsoever  he  appoints.  Wilt  thou  have 
me,  O Lord,  lie  under  sickness  or  pain,  wilt  thou 
have  me  languish  under  weakness  and  confinement? 
I am  at  thy  foot,  T am  for  ever  at  thy  disposal.  Wilt 
thou  have  me  active  and  vigorous  in  thy  service? 
Lord,  I am  ready  with  utmost  cheerfulness.  Wilt 
thou  confine  me  to  painful  idleness  and  long  patience? 
Lord,  here  I am : do  with  me  what  seemeth  good  unto 
thee.  I am  ready  to  serve  thy  purposes  here,  or  thy 
orders  in  the  unknown  world  of  spirits,  when  thou 
shalt  dissolve  this  mortal  frame;  I lay  down  these 
limbs  in  the  dust  of  death  at  thy  command;  I ven- 
ture into  the  regions  of  angels  and  unbodied  minds 
at  thy  summons.  I will  be  what  thou  wilt,  I will  go 
when  thou  wilt,  I will  dwell  where  thou  wilt;  for  thou 
art  always  with  me  and  I am  entirely  thine.  I ’both 
rejoice  and  tremble  at  thy  sovereignty  and  dominion 
over  all.  God  cannot  do  injury  to  a creature  who  is 
so  entirely  his  own  property;  God  will  not  deal 
unkindly  with  a creature  who  is  so  sensible  of  his 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


265 


just  dominion  and  supremacy,  and  which  bows  at 
the  foot  of  his  sovereignty  with  so  much  relish  of 
satisfaction. 

8.  Let  us  next  take  notice  of  the  perfect  purity  of 
the  nature  of  God,  his  universal  holiness,  the  rectitude 
of  the  divine  nature  manifested  in  all  his  thoughts, 
his  works,  and  his  words,  all  perfectly  agreeable  to 
the  eternal  rules  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  at 
the  farthest  distance  from  every  thing  that  is  false 
and  faulty,  every  thing  that  is  or  can  be  dishonourable 
to  so  glorious  a being.  Have  we  never  seen  God  in 
this  light,  in  the  glory  of  his  holiness,  his  universal 
rectitude,  and  the  everlasting  harmony  of  all  his  per- 
fections in  exact  correspondence  with  all  the  notions 
we  can  have  of  truth  and  reason?  And  has  not  God 
appeared  then  as  a glorious  and  lovely  being  ? And 
have  we  not  at  the  same  time  beheld  ourselves  as  un- 
clean and  unholy  creatures,  in  one  part  or  other  of 
our  natures  ever  ready  to  jar  or  fall  out  with  some  of 
the  most  pure  and  perfect  rules  of  holiness,  justice, 
or  truth?  Have  we  not  seen  all  our  sins  and  iniqui- 
ties in  this  light,  with  utmost  abhorrence  and  highest 
hatred  of  t hem,  and  looked  down  upon  ourselves  with 
a deep  and  overwhelming  sense  of  shame  and  dis- 
pleasure against  our  depraved  and  corrupted  natures, 
and  abased  ourselves  as  Job  does  in  dust  and  ashes, 
and  not  daring  to  open  our  mouths  before  him? 
Job  xlii.  6 : “ I have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of 
the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee,  and  I abhor  my- 
self in  dust  and  ashes.”  The  least  spot  or  blemish 
of  sin  grows  highly  offensive  and  painful  to  the  eyes 
of  a saint  in  this  situation. 

Every  little  warping  from  truth  in  our  conversa- 
tion, every  degree  of  insincerity  or  fraud  becomes  a 
smarting  uneasiness  to  the  mind  in  the  remembrance 
of  our  past  follies  in  the  present  state.  There  is  the 
highest  abhorrence  of  sin  among  all  the  heavenly  in- 
habitants; and  this  sight  of  God  in  the  beauties  of  his 
/ 24 


266 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


holiness,  and  his  perfect  rectitude,  is  an  everlasting 
preservative  to  holy  souls  against  the  admission  of  an 
impure  or  unholy  thought;  and  therefore  some  di- 
vines have  supposed,  that  the  angels  at  their  first  crea- 
tion were  put  into  a state  of  trial,  before  they  were 
admitted  to  this  full  sight  of  the  beauty  of  God  in  his 
holiness,  which  would  have  secured  them  from  the 
least  thought  or  step  towards  apostacy. 

O my  soul,  of  what  happy  importance  it  is  to  thee 
to  maintain,  as  long  as  possible,  this  sense  of  the 
purity,  rectitude,  and  perfection  of  the  nature  of  the 
blessed  God,  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  ini- 
quity with  the  least  regard  of  approbation  or  allow- 
ance ! And  what  infinite  condescension  is  it  in  such 
a God  to  find  out  and  appoint  a way  of  grace,  whereby 
such  shameful  polluted  creatures  as  we  are  should 
ever  be  admitted  into  his  presence  to  make  the  least 
address  to  his  majesty,  or  to  hope  for  his  favour! 

Besides,  in  this  sublime  view  of  the  holiness  of 
God,  we  shall  not  only  love  God  better  than  ever, 
as  we  see  him  more  amiable  under  this  view  of  his 
glorious  attributes,  but  we  shall  grow  more  sincere 
and  fervent  in  our  love  to  all  that  is  holy,  to  every 
fellow  Christian,  to  every  saint  in  heaven  and  on 
earth  : we  shall  not  bear  any  estrangedness  or  aliena- 
tion from  those  who  have  so  much  of  the  likeness  of 
God  in  them.  They  will  ever  appear  to  be  the  ex- 
cellent of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all  our  delight;  their 
supposed  blemishes  will  vanish  at  the  thought  of 
their  likeness  to  God  in  holiness;  and  especially  our 
blessed  Lord  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  will  be  most  pre- 
cious and  all-glorious  in  our  eyes,  as  he  is  the  most 
perfect  image  of  his  Father’s  holiness.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  blessed  God,  but  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
bears  a proportionable  resemblance  to  it,  as  far  as  a 
creature  can  resemble  God,  and  he  will  consequently 
be  highest  in  our  esteem  under  God  the  Lord  and 
Father  of  all. 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


267 


9.  The  ever-pleasing  attribute  of  Divine  goodness 
and  love  is  another  endless  and  joyful  theme  or  object 
of  the  contemplation  of  the  heavenly  world.  There 
this  perfection  shines  in  its  brightest  rays,  there  it 
displays  its  most  triumphant  glories,  and  kindles  a 
flame  of  everlasting  joy  in  all  the  sons  of  blessedness. 

But  we  in  this  world  may  have  such  glimpses  of 
this  goodness  and  love  as  may  fill  the  soul  with 
unspeakable  pleasure,  and  begin  in  it  the  first  fruits 
and  earnest  of  heaven.  When  we  survey  the  in- 
exhaustible ocean  of  goodness  which  is  in  God, 
which  fills  and  supplies  all  the  creatures  with  every 
thing  they  stand  in  need  of;  when  we  behold  all  the 
tribes  of  the  sons  of  men  supported  by  his  boundless 
sufficiency,  his  bounty  and  kind  providence,  and  re- 
freshed with  a thousand  comforts  beyond  what  the 
mere  necessities  of  nature  require.  In  such  an  hour, 
if  we  feel  the  least  flowings  of  goodness  in  ourselves 
towards  others,  we  shall  humble  ourselves  to  the 
dust,  and  cry  out  in  holy  amazement,  Lord,  what  is 
an  atom  to  a mountain!  What  is  a drop  to  a river, 
a seji  of  beneficence ! What  is  a shadow  to  the  eter- 
nal substance!  What  good  thing  is  there  in  time  or 
in  eternity,  which  I can  possibly  want  which  is  not 
abundantly  supplied  out  of  thine  overflowing  ful- 
ness! Hence  arises  the  eternal  satisfaction  of  all  the 
holy  and  happy  creation  in  being  so  near  to  thee, 
and  under  the  everlasting  assurances  of  thy  love.  I 
can  do  nothing  but  fall  down  before  thee  in  deepest 
humility,  and  admire,  adore,  and  everlastingly  love 
thee,  who  hast  assumed  to  thyself  the  name  of  love. 
1 John  iv.  8 : “ God  is  love.’7 


SECTION  IV. 

Thus  far  our  joys  may  rise  into  an  imitation  of  the 
joys  above,  in  the  devout  contemplation  of  Divine 
perfections. 


268 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


And  not  only  the  perfections  of  God,  considered 
and  surveyed  single  in  themselves,  but  the  union  and 
blessed  harmony  of  many  of  them  in  the  Divine 
works  and  transactions  of  providence  and  of  grace, 
especially  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  administer  farther 
matter  for  contemplation  and  pleasure  among  the 
happy  spirits  in  heaven;  and  so  far  as  this  enjoyment 
may  be  communicated  to  the  saints  here  on  earth, 
they  may  be  also  said  to  have  a foretaste  of  the  busi- 
ness and  pleasure  of  heaven.  Let  us  take  notice  of 
this  harmony  in  several  instances. 

1.  In  the  sacred  constitution  of  the  person  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God  and  man  united  in  one 
personal  agent:  here  majesty  and  mercy  give  a glo- 
rious instance  of  their  union,  here  all  the  grandeur 
and  dignity  of  Godhead  condescends  to  join  itself  in 
union  with  a creature,  such  as  man  is,  a spirit  dwell- 
ing in  flesh  and  blood.  1 Tim.  ii.  5:  “There  is 
one  God,  and  one  mediator  between  God  and  man, 
even  the  man  Christ  Jesus;”  but  this  man  is  per- 
sonally united  to  the  blessed  God,  he  is  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh;  he  is  a man  in  whom  dwells  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  to  constitute  one 
all-sufficient  Saviour  of  miserable  and  fallen  man- 
kind. What  an  amazing  stoop  or  condescension  is 
this,  for  the  eternal  Godhead  thus  to  join  itself  to  a 
creature!  And  what  a surprising  exaltation  is  this 
of  the  creature,  for  the  man  Christ  Jesus  thus  to  be 
assumed  into  so  near  a relation  to  the  blessed  God ! 
All  the  glories  that  result  from  this  Divine  contri- 
vance and  transaction  are  not  to  be  enumerated  in 
paper,  nor  by  the  best  capacity  of  writers  here  on 
earth;  the  heavenly  inhabitants  are  much  better  ac- 
quainted with  them. 

Again,  here  is  an  example  of  the  harmony  and  co- 
operation of  unsearchable  wisdom  and  all-command- 
ing power  in  the  person  of  the  blessed  Jesus;  and 
what  a happy  design  is  hereby  executed,  namely,  the 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


269 


reconciliation  of  sinful  man  and  the  holy  and  glori- 
ous God  ; and  who  could  do  this  but  one  who  was 
possessed  of  such  wisdom  and  such  power?  When 
there  was  no  creature  in  heaven  or  earth  sufficient 
for  this  work,  God  was  pleased  to  appoint  such  a 
union  between  a creature  and  the  Creator,  between 
God  and  man,  as  might  answqr  all  the  inconceivable 
purposes  concealed  in  his  thought.  If  there  be  want- 
ing a person  fit  to  execute  any  of  his  infinite  designs, 
he  will  not  be  frustrated  for  want  of  an  agent,  he 
will  appoint  God  and  man  to  be  so  nearly  united  as 
to  become  one  agent  to  execute  this  design. 

2.  In  the  manner  of  our  salvation,  namely,  by  an 
atonement  of  sin.  The  great  God  did  not  think  it 
proper,  nor  agreeable  to  his  sublime  holiness,  to  re- 
ceive sinful  man  into  his  favour  without  an  atone- 
ment for  sin,  and  a satisfaction  made  to  the  governor 
of  the  world  for  the  abuse  and  violation  of  his  holy 
law  here  on  earth;  and  therefore  he  appointed  such 
a sacrifice  of  atonement  as  might  be  sufficient  to  do 
complete  honour  to  the  Lawgiver,  as  well  as  to  save 
and  deliver  the  offender  from  death  ; therefore  Jesus 
was  made  a man  capable  of  suffering  and  dying,  that 
he  might  honour  the  majesty  and  the  justice  of  the 
broken  law  of  God,  and  that  he  might  do  it  complete- 
ly by  the  union  of  Godhead  to  this  Man  and  Me- 
diator; the  dignity  of  whose  divinity  diffuses  itself 
over  all  that  he  did  and  all  that  he  suffered,  so  as  to 
make  his  obedience  completely  acceptable  to  God 
instead  of  thousands  of  creatures,  and  fully  satisfac- 
tory for  the  offence  that  was  given  him  by  them : 
here  is  a sacrifice  provided  equal  to  the  guilt  of  sin, 
and  therefore  sufficient  to  take  it  away. 

You  see  here  what  a blessed  harmony  there  is 
between  the  justice  of  God  doing  honour  to  his  own 
law,  and  his  compassion  resolved  to  save  a ruined 
creature;  here  is  no  blemish  cast  upon  the  strict 
justice  and  righteousness  of  God,  when  the  offender 

24* 


270 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


is  forgiven  in  such  a method  as  may  do  honour  to 
justice  and  mercy  at  once.  Rom.  iii.  24,  25:  “We 
are  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemp- 
tion that  is  in  Jesus  Christ;  whom  God  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood, 
to  declare  his  righteousness,’*  even  his  perfect  govern- 
ing justice,  though  he  passes  by  and  pardons  the 
sins  of  a thousand  criminal  creatures;  to  declare,  I 
say,  at  this  time  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  ap- 
pear to  be  just  to  his  own  authority  and  law,  while 
he  justifies  the  sinful  man  who  believeth  or  trusteth 
in  Jesus  the  Mediator,  as  becoming  a proper  sacri- 
fice and  propitiation  for  sin. 

3.  By  the  sanctification  of  our  nature.  There  is 
also  another  remarkable  harmony,  between  the  holi- 
ness of  God  and  his  mercy  in  this  work  of  the  salva- 
tion of  sinful  man.  The  guilt  of  sin  is  not  only  to 
be  forgiven  and  taken  away  by  a complete  atone- 
ment and  sacrifice,  but  the  sinful  nature  of  this 
ruined  creature  is  to  be  changed  into  holiness,  is  to 
be  renewed  and  sanctified  by  the  blessed  Spirit,  and 
reformed  into  the  image  of  God  his  Maker:  he  must 
not  only  be  released  from  punishment  by  forgiveness, 
but  he  must  be  restored  to  the  image  of  God  by 
sanctifying  grace;  that  so  he  may  be  fit  company  for 
the  rest  of  the  favourites  of  God  in  the  upper  world  ; 
that  he  may  be  qualified  to  be  admitted  into  this  so- 
ciety where  perfect  purity  and  holiness  are  necessary 
for  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  upper  world,  and  for 
such  near  attendants  on  the  blessed  God.  In  that 
happy  state  nothing  shall  enter  there  that  defileth, 
Rev.  xxi.  27,  and  therefore  concerning  the  criminals 
amongst  the  Corinthians,  as  vile  and  as  offensive  to 
the  pure  and  holy  God  as  they  are  represented,  1 
Cor.  vi.  9 — 11,  namely,  Fornicators,  idolaters,  adul- 
terers, drunkards,  &,c. ; but,  it  is  said,  they  are  washed, 
but  they  are  sanctified,  but  they  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God. 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


271 


Now  when  the  souls  of  the  saints  here  on  earth 
are  raised  to  such  divine  contemplations,  what  trans- 
porting satisfaction  and  delight  must  arise  from 
the  surprising  union  and  harmony  of  the  attributes 
of  the  blessed  God  in  these  his  transactions  ! And 
especially  when  the  soul,  in  the  lively  exercise  of 
grace  and  view  of  its  own  pardon,  justification,  and 
restored  holiness,  looks  upon  itself  as  one  of  these 
happy  favourites  of  the  Majesty  of  heaven,  it  cries 
out  as  it  were  in  holy  amazement,  What  a divine  pro- 
fusion is  here  of  wisdom  and  power,  glory’and  grace, 
to  save  a wretched  worm  from  everlasting  burnings, 
and  to  advance  a worthless  rebel  to  such  undeserved 
and  exalted  glories! 

SECTION  V. 

The  wonders  of  divine  perfections  united  in  the 
success  of  the  gospel  give  an  ecstasy  of  joy  sometimes 
to  holy  souls.  Not  only  do  these  views  of  the  united 
perfections  of  God,  as  they  are  concerned  in  the  con- 
trivance of  the  gospel,  entertain  the  saints  above 
with  new  and  pleasurable  contemplation,  but  the 
wonders  of  divine  wisdom,  power,  and  grace,  united 
and  harmonizing  in  the  propagation  and  success  of 
this  gospel,  become  a matter  of  delightful  attention 
and  survey  to  the  saints  on  high. 

This  is  imitated  also  in  a measure  by  the  children 
of  God  here  on  earth.  Have  you  never  felt  such  a 
surprising  pleasure  in  the  view  of  the  attributesof  God, 
his  grace,  wisdom,  and  power,  in  making  these  di- 
vine designs  so  happily  efficacious  for  the  good  of 
thousands  of  souls?  If  there  be  joy  in  heaven  among 
the  angels  of  God  at  the  conversion  of  a sinner,  what 
perpetual  messages  of  unknown  satisfaction  and  de- 
light did  the  daily  and  constant  labours  of  the  blessed 
apostle  Paul  send  to  the  upper  world?  What  perpe- 
tual tidings  were  carried  to  the  worlds  on  high  of 


272 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


such  and  such  souls,  converted  unto  God  from  gross 
idolatry,  from  the  worship  of  dumb  idols,  from  the 
vain  superstition  of  their  heroes  and  mediator-gods, 
and  from  the  impure  and  bloody  sacrifices  of  their 
own  countrymen,  whereby  they  intended  to  satisfy 
their  gods  for  their  own  iniquities,  and  to  reconcile 
themselves  to  these  invented  gods,  these  demons  or 
devils  which  were  deified  by  the  folly  and  madness 
of  sinful  men!  What  new  hallelujahs  must  it  put 
into  the  mouths  of  the  saints  and  angels  on  high,  to 
see  the  true  and  living  God  worshipped  by  thousands 
that  had  never  before  known  him,  and  to  see  Jesus 
the  Mediator  in  all  the  glories  of  his  divine  offices, 
admired  and  adored  by  those  who  lately  had  either 
known  nothing  of  him,  or  been  shameful  revilers  and 
blasphemers  of  his  majesty. 

And  what  an  unknown  delight  is  diffused  through 
many  of  the  saints  of  God  now  here  on  earth  upon 
such  tidings,  not  only  from  the  foreign  and  heathen 
countries,  but  even  some  that  have  professed  Chris- 
tianity, but  under  gross  mistakes  and  miserable  fogs 
of  darkness  and  superstition!  What  an  inconceiva- 
ble and  overwhelming  pleasure  has  surprised  a Chris- 
tian sometimes  in  the  midst  of  his  zealous  worship  of 
God  and  his  Saviour,  to  hear  of  such  tidings  of  new 
subjects  in  multitudes  submitting  themselves  to  their 
divine  dominion  ! 

And  even  in  our  day,  whensoever  we  hear  of  the 
work  of  grace  begun  by  the  ministry  of  the  word,, 
awakening  a drowsy  and  lethargic  soul  from  its  dan- 
gerous sleep  on  the  brink  of  hell,  rousing  a negligent 
and  slothful  creature  from  his  indolence  and  care- 
lessness about  the  things  of  eternity;  or  again,  in 
making  a heart  soft  and  impressive  to  the  powers  of 
divine  grace,  which  was  before  hard  as  the  nether 
mill-stone;  and  especially  when  multitudes  of  these 
tidings  come  together  from  distant  places,  as  of  late 
we  have  heard  from  New  England,  and  several  of 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


273 


those  plantations,  from  Scotland  and  several  of  her 
assemblies,  what  additional  scenes  of  heavenly  joy 
and  pleasure  have  been  raised  amongst  the  pious 
souls,  both  those  who  relate  and  those  who  hear  him. 

SECTION  VI. 

Foretastes  of  heaven  are  sometimes  derived  from 
the  overflowing  sense  of  the  love  of  God  let  in  upon 
the  soul. 

The  spirits  above  who  are  surrounded  with  this 
blessedness  and  this  love,  arid  rejoice  in  the  everlast- 
ing assurance  of  it,  cannot  but  be  filled  with  intense 
joy.  What  can  be  a greater  foundation  of  complete 
blessedness  and  delight  than  the  immediate  sensation 
and  assurance  of  being  beloved  by  the  glorious,  and 
supreme,  and  the  all-sufficient  Being,  who  will  never 
suffer  his  favourites  to  want  any  thing  he  can  bestow 
upon  them  to  make  them  happy  in  perfection  and 
for  ever?  All  creatures  are  under  his  present  view 
and  immediate  command;  there  is  not  the  least  of 
them  can  give  disturbance  to  any  of  the  favourites 
of  heaven,  who  dwell  in  the  midst  of  their  Creator’s 
love;  nor  is  there  any  creature  that  can  be  employ- 
ed towards  the  complete  happiness  of  the  saints  on 
high,  but  is  for  ever  under  the  disposal  of  that  God 
who  has  made  all  things,  and  it  shall  be  employed 
upon  every  just  occasion  for  the  display  of  his  love 
to  his  saints. 

Some  have  imagined  that  that  perfect  satisfaction 
of  soul  which  arises  from  a good  conscience,  speak- 
ing peace  inwardly  in  the  survey  of  its  sincere  desire 
to  please  God  in  all  things,  and  having  with  upright- 
ness of  heart  fulfilled  its  duty,  is  the  supreme  delight 
of  heaven;  but  it  is  my  opinion  God  has  never  made 
the  felicity  of  his  creatures  to  be  drawn  so  entirely 
out  of  themselves,  or  from  the  spring  of  their  own  bo- 
som, as  this  notion  seems  to  imply.  God  himself 


274 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


will  be  all  in  all  to  his  creatures;  and  all  their  origi- 
nal springs  of  blessedness  as  well  as  being  are  in  him 
and  must  be  derived  from  him;  it  is  therefore  the 
overflowing  sense  of  being  beloved  by  a God  almighty 
and  eternal,  that  is  the  supreme  fountain  of  joy  and 
blessedness  to  every  reasonable  nature,  and  the  end- 
less security  of  this  happiness  is  joy  everlasting  in  all 
the  regions  of  the  blessed  above. 

Now  a taste  of  this  kind  is  heavenly  blessedness 
even  on  this  earth,  where  God  is  pleased  to  bestow 
it  on  his  creatures;  and  the  glimpses  of  it  bring 
such  ecstasies  into  the  soul  as  can  hardly  be  con- 
ceived or  revealed  to  others,  but  it  is  best  felt  by 
them  who  enjoy  it. 

SECTION  VII. 

Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  fervent  emotions  of  soul 
in  love  to  Jesus  Christ. 

What  the  love  and  strong  affections  of  the  blessed 
saints  above  towards  Jesus  Christ  their  Lord  and 
Saviour  may  impress  of  joy  on  their  spirits,  is  not 
possible  for  us  to  learn  in  the  present  state ; but  there 
are  some  who  have  even  hereon  earth  felt  such  tran- 
scendent affections  to  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  even 
though  they  have  never  enjoyed  the  sight  of  him, 
yet  they  love  him  with  most  intense  and  ardent  zeal ; 
their  devotion  almost  swallows  them  up  and  carries 
them  away  captive  above  all  earthly  things,  and  brings 
them  nearer  to  the  heavenly  world.  There  is  an  un- 
known joy  which  arises  from  such  intense  love  to  an 
object  so  lovely  and  so  deserving;  such  is  that  which 
is  spoken  concerning  the  saints  to  whom  St.  Peter  ' 
wrote,  1 Peter  i.  8 : “ Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love ; 
in  whom,  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing, 
ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.” 
It  is  through  this  divine  taste  of  love,  and  joy,  and 
glory  communicated  by  the  blessed  Spirit,  revealing 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


275 


the  things  of  Christ  to  their  souls,  that  many  of  the 
confessors  and  martyrs  in  the  primitive  ages,  and  in 
latter  times,  have  not  only  joyfully  parted  with  aF 
their  possessions  and  their  comforts  in  this  life,  but 
have  followed  the  call  of  God  through  prisons  and 
deaths  of  a most  dreadful  kind,  through  racks  and 
fires,  and  many  torments,  for  the  sake  of  the  love  of 
Jesus;  and  perhaps  there  may  be  some  in  our  day 
who  have  had  so  lively  and  strong  a sensation  of  the 
love  of  Christ  let  in  upon  their  souls,  that  they  could 
not  only  be  content  to  be  absent  from  all  their  carnal 
delights  for  ever,  but^ven  from  their  intellectual  and 
more  spiritual  entertainments,  if  they  might  be  for 
ever  placed  in  such  a situation  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  to 
feel  the  everlasting  beams  of  his  love  let  out  upon 
them,  and  to  rejoice  in  him  with  perpetual  delight. 
As  he  is  the  nearest  image  of  God  the  Father,  they 
can  love  nothing  beneath  God  equal  to  their  love  of 
him,  nor  delight  in  any  thing  beneath  God  equal  to 
their  delight  in  Jesus  Christ;  indeed  their  love  and 
their  joy  are  so  wrapped  up  in  the  great  and  blessed 
God  as  he  appears  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  they  do  not 
•usually  divide  their  affections  in  this  matter,  but  love 
God  supremely  for  ever,  as  revealing  himself  in  his 
most  perfect  love  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  their  souls. 
How  near  this  may  approach  to  the  glorified  love  of 
the  saints  in.  heaven,  or  what  difference  there  is  be- 
tween the  holy  ones  above  and  the  saints  below,  in 
this  respect,  may  be  hard  to  say. 

SECTION.  VIII. 

Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  transcendent  love  of 
the  saints  to  each  other.  I might  here  ask  some  ad- 
vanced saints, 

Have  you  never  seen  or  heard  of  a fellow  Chris- 
tian growing  into  such  a near  resemblance  to  the 
blessed  Jesus,  in  all  the  virtues  and  graces  of  the 


276 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN 


Spirit,  that  you  would  willingly  part  with  all  the 
attainments  and  honours  that  you  have  already 
»rrived  at,  which  make  you  never  so  eminent  in  the 
world  or  in  the  church,  as  to  be  made  so  near  a con- 
formist to  the  image  of  the  blessed  Jesus  as  this  fel- 
low Christian  has  seemed  to  be? 

Have  you  never  seen  or  read  of  the  glories  and 
graces  of  the  Son  of  God  exemplified  in  some  of  the 
saints  in  so  high  a degree,  and  at  the  same  time 
been  so  divested  of  self,  and  so  mortified  to  a narrow 
self-love,  as  to  be  satisfied  with  the  lowest  and  the 
meanest  supports  of  life,  and  the  meanest  station  in 
the  church  of  Christ  here  on  earth,  if  you  might  but 
be  favoured  to  partake  of  that  transcendent  likeness 
to  the  holy  Jesus,  as  you  wTould  fain  imitate  and 
possess? 

Have  you  never  had  a view’  of  all  the  virtues  and 
graces  of  the  saints,  derived  from  one  eternal  foun- 
tain, the  blessed  God,  and  flowing  through  the  me- 
diation of  Jesus  his  Son  in  so  glorious  a manner, 
that  you  have  longed  for  the  day  when  you  shall  be 
amongst  them,  and  receive  your  share  of  this  blessed- 
ness? Have  you  never  found  yourself  so  united  to 
them  in  one  heart  and  one  soul,  that  you  have  wished 
them  all  the  same  blessings  that  you  have  wished  to 
yourself,  and  that  without  the  least  shadow  of  grudg- 
ing or  envy,  if  every  one  of  them  were  partaker  as 
much  as  you?  There  is  no  efivy  among  the  hea- 
venly inhabitants;  nor  doth  St.  Paul  receive  the  less 
because  Cephas  or  Apollos  has  a large  share.  Every 
vessel  has  its  capacity  enlarged  to  a proper  extent  by 
the  God  of  nature  and  grace,  and  every  vessel  is  com- 
pletely filled,  and  feels  itself  for  ever  full  and  for  ever 
happy;  then  there  cannot  be  found  the  shadow  of 
envy  amongst  them. 

Now  to  sum  up  the  view  of  these  things  in  short: 
who  is  there  that  enjoys  these  blessed  evidences  of 
an  interest  in  the  inheritance  on  high,  who  is  there 


FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN. 


277 


that  has  any  such  foretastes  of  the  felicity  above,  but 
must  join  with  the  whole  creation  in  groaning  for 
that  great  day,  when  all  the  children  of  God  shall 
appear  in  the  splendour  of  their  adoption,  and  every 
thing  in  nature  and  grace  among  them  shall  attain 
the  proper  end  for  which  it  was  at  first  designed? 

And  whensoever  any  such  Christian  hears  some  of 
the  last  words  in  the  Bible  pronounced  by  our  Lord 
Jesus,  “Surely  I come  quickly/’  he  must  imme- 
diately join  the  universal  echo  of  the  saints  with  un-  Jjp* 
speakable  delight,^4  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus.” 


r ' ** 

^ -■  * 

. I . . - • 

. ' : - ‘ • 


-• 

/ 

> 


■ V;-  - • 

, 


DISCOURSE  XI. 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE  AND  JOY  AT  THE 
RESURRECTION. 


Job  xiv.  13,  14, 15. 

Oh  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave , that  thou  wouldest 
keep  me  secret  until  thy  wrath  be  past , that  thou  wouldest  ap- 
point me  a set  time , and  remember  me!  If  a man  die , shall 
he  live  again?  All  the  days  of  my  appointed  lime  will  I wait , 
till  my  change  come.  Thou  shall  call;  and  I will  answer 
thee:  thou  wilt  have  a desire  to  the  work  of  thine  hands . 


Before  we  attempt  to  make  any  improvement 
of  these  words  of  Job  for  our  present  edification, 
it  is  necessary  that  we  search  out  the  true  mean- 
ing of  them.  There  arc  two  general  senses  of  these 
three  verses,  which  are  given  by  some  of  the  most 
considerable  interpreters  of  scripture,  and  they  are 
exceeding  different  from  each  other. 

The  first  is  this.  Some  suppose  Job  under  the 
extremity  of  his  anguish  to  long  after  death  here,  as 
he  does  in  some  other  parts  of.  this  book,  and  to 
desire  that  God  would  cut  him  off  from  the  land  of 
the  living,  and  hide  him  in  the  grave,  or,  at  least, 
take  him  away  from  the  present  stage  of  action,  and 
conceal  him  in  some  retired  and  solitary  place,  dark 


280 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


as  the  grave  is,  till  all  the  days  which  might  be  de- 
signed for  his  pain  and  sorrow  were  finished ; and 
that  God  would  appoint  him  a time  for  his  restora- 
tion to  health  and  happiness  again  in  this  world,  and 
raise  him  to  the  possession  of  it,  by  calling  him  out  of 
that  dark  and  solitary  place  of  retreat;  and  then  Job 
would  answer  him,  and  appear  with  pleasure  at  such 
a call  of  providence. 

Others  give  this  sense  of  the  words,  that  though 
the  pressing  and  overwhelming  sorrows  of  this  good 
man  constrained  him  to  long  for  death,  and  he  en- 
treated God  that  he  might  be  sent  to  the  grave  as 
a hiding-place,  and  thus  be  delivered  from  his  pre- 
sent calamities,  yet  he  had  some  divine  glimpse  of  a 
resurrection  or  living  again,  and  he  hopes  for  the 
happiness  of  a future  state  when  God  should  call 
him  out  of  the  grave.  He  knew  that  the  blessed 
God  would  have  a desire  to  restore  the  work  of  his 
own  hands  to  life  again,  and  Job  would  answer  the 
call  of  his  God  into  a resurrection  with  holy  pleasure 
and  joy. 

Now  there  are  four  or  five  reasons  which  incline 
me  to  prefer  this  latter  sense  of  the  words,  and  to 
show  that  the  comforts  and  hope  which  Job  aspires 
to  in  this  place,  are  only  to  be  derived  from  a resur- 
rection to  final  happiness. 

1.  The  express  words  of  the  text  are,  “O  that  thou 
wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave!’*  not  in  a darksome 
place  like  the  grave;  and  where  the  literal  sense  of 
the  words  is  plain  and  agreeable  to  the  context,  there 
is  no  need  of  making  metaphors  to  explain  them. 
There  is  nothing  that  can  encourage  us  to  suppose 
that  Job  had  any  hope  of  happiness  in  this  world 
again,  after  he  was  gone  down  to  the  grave,  and 
therefore  he  would  not  make  so  unreasonable  a pe- 
tition to  the  great  God.  This  seems  to  be  too  foolish 
and  too  hopeless  a request  for  us  to  put  into  the  mouth 
of  so  wise  and  good  a man. 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  281 

2.  He  seems  to  limit  the  continuance  of  man  in 
the  state  of  death  to  the  duration  of  the  heavens, 
ver.  12th:  “Man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not  till  the 
heavens  be  no  more:”  not  absolutely  for  ever  does 
Job  desire  to  be  hidden  in  the  grave,  but  till  the 
dissolution  of  all  these  visible  things,  these  heavens 
and  this  earth,  and  the  great  rising-day  for  the  sons 
of  men.  These  words  seem  to  have  a plain  aspect 
towards  the  resurrection. 

And  especially  when  he  adds,  “They  shall  not  be 
wakened  nor  raised  out  of  their  sleep.”  The  brutes 
when  dying  are  never  said  to  sleep  in  scripture, 
because  they  shall  never  rise  again;  but  this  is  a 
frequent  word  used  to  signify  the  death  of  man  both 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New,  because  he 
only  lies  down  in  the  grave  for  a season,  as  in  a bed 
of  sleep,  in  order  to  awake  and  arise  hereafter. 

3.  In  other  places  of  this  book,  Job  gives  us  some 
evident  hints  of  his  hope  of  a resurrection,  especially 
that  divine  passage  and  prophecy,  when  he  spake  as 
one  surrounded  with  a vision  of  glory,  and  filled 
with  the  light  and  joy  of  faith.  Job  xix.  25 : “I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall 
stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth;  and  though 
after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my 
flesh  shall  I see  God ; whom  I shall  see  for  myself, 
and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another,  though 
my  reins  be  consumed  within  me.”  But  in  many 
parts  of  this  book  the  good  man  lets  us  know,  that  he 
had  no  manner  of  hope  of  any  restoration  to  health 
and  peace  in  this  life.  Job  vii.  6,  7,  8:  “My  days 
are  spent  without  hope:  mine  eye  shall  no  more  see 
good : the  eye  of  him  that  hath  seen  me  shall  see  me 
no  more:  thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I am  not.” 
Ver.  21:  “Now  shall  I sleep  in  the  dust,  thou  shalt 
seek  me  in  the  morning,  and  I shall  not  be.”  Job 
xvii.  15 : “ Where  is  now  my  hope?  As  for  my  hope, 
who  shall  see  it?”  He  and  his  hope  seemed  to  go 

25* 


282 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


down  to  the  bars  of  the  pit  together,  and  to  rest  in 
the  dust.  And  if  Job  had  no  hope  of  a restoration 
in  this  world,  then  his  hopes  must  point  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead. 

4.  If  we  turn  these  verses  here,  as  well  as  that 
noble  passage  in  Job  xix.  to  the  more  evangelical 
sense  of  a resurrection,  the  truths  which  are  contained 
in  the  one  and  the  other,  are  all  supported  by  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament:  and  the  express 
words  of  both  these  texts  are  much  more  naturally 
and  easily  applied  to  the  evangelical  sense,  without 
any  strain  and  difficulty. 

The  expressions  in  the  xixth  of  Job,  “I  know  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth,”  &c.,  have  been  rescued  by 
many  wise  interpreters  from  that  poor  and  low  sense 
which  has  been  forced  upon  them,  by  those  who  will 
not  allow  Job  to  have  any  prospect  beyond  this 
life:  and  it  has  been  made  to  appear  to  be  a bright 
glimpse  of  divine  light  and  joy,  a ray  or  vision  of  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  breaking  in  between  the  dark 
clouds  of  his  pressing  sorrow:  and  that  the  words  of 
my  text  demand  the  same  sort  of  interpretation,  will 
appear  farther  by  these  short  remarks,  and  this  para- 
phrase on  them. 

Job  had  been  speaking,  ver.  7,  &c.,  that  there  is 
hope  of  a tree  when  it  is  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout 
again  visibly,  and  bring  forth  boughs;  but  when 
man  gives  up  the  ghost,  he  is  no  more  visible  upon 
earth : where  is  he?  Job  does  not  deny  his  future 
existence,  but  only  intimates  that  he  does  not  appear 
in  the  place  where  he  was;  and  in  the  following 
verses  he  does  not  say  a dying  man  shall  never  rise, 
or  shall  never  be  awakened  out  of  his  sleep,  but 
asserts  that  he  riseth  not  till  the  dissolution  of  these 
heavens  and  these  visible  things:  and  by  calling 
death  a sleep,  he  supposes  an  awaking  time,  though 
it  may  be  distant  and  far  off. 

Then  he  proceeds  to  long  for  death,  “O  that  thou 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  283 

wouldest  hide  me  in  the  grave!  that  thou  wouldest 
keep  me  secret  till  thy  wrath  be  past!”  till  these 
times  and  seasons  of  sorrow  be  ended,  which  seem 
to  be  the  effect  of  Divine  wrath  or  anger:  but  then 
I entreat  that  thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a set  time 
for  my  tarrying  in  the  grave,  and  remember  me,  in 
order  to  raise  me  again.  Then  with  a sort  of  sur- 
prise of  faith  and  pleasure,  he  adds,  “If  a man  die, 
shall  he  live  again?”  Shall  these  dry  bones  live? 
And  he  answers  in  the  language  of  hope:  “All  the 
days  of  that  appointed  time  of  thine  I will  wait  till 
that  glorious  change  shall  come.”  Thou  shalt  call 
from  heaven,  and  I will  answer  thee  from  the  dust  of 
death.  I will  appear  at  thy  call,  and  say,  “Here  am 
I:  thou  wilt  have  a desire  to  the  work  of  thy  hands, ” 
to  raise  me  again  from  the  dead,  whom  thou  hast 
made  of  clay,  and  fashioned  me  into  life. 

From  the  words  thus  expounded  we  may  draw 
these  several  observations,  and  make  a short  reflec- 
tion upon  each  of  them,  as  we  pass  along. 

Observation  I.  This  world  is  a place  wherein 
good  men  are  exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they 
are  ready  to  think  the  anger  or  wrath  of  God,  ap- 
pears in  them. 

Observation  II.  The  grave  is  God’s  known 
hiding-place  for  his  people. 

Observation  III.  God  has  appointed  a set  time 
in  his  own  counsels  for  all  his  children  to  continue 
in  death. 

Observation  IV.  The  lively  view  of  a happy  re- 
surrection, and  a well-grounded  hope  of  this  blessed 
change,  is  a solid  and  divine  comfort  to  the  saints  of 


284 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


God,  under  all  trials  of  every  kind  both  in  life  and 
death. 

Observation  V.  The  saints  of  God  who  are  rest- 
ing in  their  beds  of  dust  will  arise  joyfully  at  the  call 
of  their  heavenly  Father. 

Observation  VI.  God  takes  delight  in  his  works 
of  nature,  but  much  more  when  they  are  dignified 
and  adorned  by  the  operations  of  divine  grace. 

Observation  VII.  How  much  are  we  indebted  to 
God  for  the  revelation  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
teaches  us  to  find  out  the  blessings  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  Old,  and  to  fetch  out  the  glories  and 
treasures  which  are  concealed  there. 

Let  us  dwell  awhile  upon  each  of  these,  and  en- 
deavour to  improve  them  by  a particular  application. 

Observation  I.  This  world  is  a place  wherein  good 
men  are  exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they  are 
ready  to  think  the  anger  or  wrath  of  God  appears  in 
them.  This  mortal  life  and  this  present  state  of  things 
as  surrounded  with  crosses  and  disappointments,  the 
loss  of  our  dearest  friends,  as  well  as  our  own  pains 
and  sicknesses,  have  so  much  anguish  and  misery  at- 
tending them,  that  they  seem  to  be  the  seasons  of  Di- 
vine wrath,  and  they  grieve  and  pain  the  spirit  of 
many  a pious  man,  under  a sense  of  the  anger  of  his 
God.  It  must  be  confessed  in  general,  that  misery 
is  the  effect  of  sin,  for  sin  and  sorrow  came  into  the 
world  together.  It  is  granted  also,  that  God  some- 
times afflicts  his  people  in  anger,  and  corrects  them 
in  his  hot  displeasure,  when  they  have  sinned  against 
him  in  a remarkable  manner:  but  this  is  not  always 
the  case. 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  285 

The  great  God  was  not  really  angry  with  Job 
when  he  suffered  him  to  fall  into  such  complicated 
distresses;  for  it  is  plain,  that  while  he  delivered 
him  up  into  the  hands  of  Satan  to  be  afflicted,  he 
vindicates  and  honours  him  with  a divine  testimony 
concerning  his  piety.  Job  i.  8 : “ There  is  none 
like  him  in  the  earth,  a perfect  and  an  upright  man, 
one  that  feareth  God,  and  escheweth  evil.”  Nor  was 
he  angry  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  when  it  pleased 
the  Father  to  bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief,  when 
he  made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  and  he  was 
stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted,  Isa.  liii.  To 
these  we  may  add  Paul,  the  best  of  the  apostles,  and 
the  greatest  of  Christians,  who  was  abundant  in 
labours  and  sufferings  beyond  all  the  rest.  See  a 
dismal  catalogue  of  his  calamities,  2 Cor.  xi.  23,  &c. 
What  variety  of  wretchedness,  what  terrible  perse- 
cutions from  men,  what  repeated  strokes  of  distress 
came  upon  him  by  the  providence  of  God,  which 
appeared  like  the  effects  of  divine  wrath  or  anger  ! 
but  they  were  plainly  designed  for  more  divine  and 
blessed  purposes,  both  with  regard  to  God,  with  re- 
gard to  himself,  and  to  all  the  succeeding  ages  of  the 
Christian  church. 

God  does  not  always  smite  his  own  people  to 
punish  sin  and  show  his  anger ; but  these  sufferings 
are  often  appointed  for  the  trial  of  their  Christian 
virtues  and  graces,  for  the  exercise  of  their  humility 
and  their  patience,  for  the  proof  of  their  steadfastness 
in  religion,  for  the  honour  of  the  grace  of  God  in 
them,  and  for  the  increase  of  their  own  future  weight 
of  glory.  “Blessed  is  the  man  that  endures  tempta- 
tion, for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown 
of  life  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that 
love  him.’*  James  i.  12.  “The  devil  shall  cast  some 
of  you  into  prison,  that  you  may  be  tried,  and  ye 
shall  have  tribulation  ten  days:  be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I will  give  thee  a crown  of  life.”  Rev.  ii. 


286 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE. 


10.  “Our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a 
moment,  are  working  for  us  a far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory.”  2 Cor.  iv.  17. 

However,  upon  the  whole,  this  world  is  a very 
troublesome  and  painful  place  to  the  children  of 
God : they  are  subject  here  to  many  weaknesses  and 
sins,  temptations  and  follies;  they  are  in  danger  of 
new  defilements;  they  go  through  many  threatening 
perils,  and  many  real  sorrows,  which  either  are  the 
effects  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  or,  at  least,  carry  an 
appearance  of  Divine  anger  in  them : but  there  is  a 
time  when  these  shall  be  finished,  and  sorrow  shall 
have  its  last  period:  there  is  a time  when  these  ca- 
lamities will  be  overpast,  and  shall  return  no  more 
for  ever. 

Reflection.  Why  then,  0 my  soul,  why  shouldest 
thou  be  so  fond  of  dwelling  in  this  present  world? 
Why  shouldest  thou  be  desirous  of  a long  continu- 
ance in  it?  Hast  thou  never  found  sorrows  and 
afflictions  enough  among  the  scenes  of  life,  to  make 
thee  weary  of  them?  and  when  sorrow  and  sin  have 
joined  together,  have  they  not  grievously  imbittered 
this  life  unto  thee?  Wilt  thou  never  be  weaned 
from  these  sensible  scenes  of  flesh  and  blood?  Hast 
thou  such  a love  to  the  darknesses,  the  defilements, 
and  the  uneasinesses  which  are  found  in  such  a prison 
as  this  is,  as  to  make  thee  unwilling  to  depart  when 
God  shall  call?  Hast  thou  dwelt  so  long  in  this 
tabernacle  of  clay,  and  dost  thou  not  groan,  being 
burdened?  Hast  thou  no  desire  to  a release  into  that 
upper  and  better  world,  where  sorrows,  sins,  and 
temptations,  have  no  place,  and  where  there  shall 
never  be  the  least  appearance  or  suspicion  of  the 
displeasure  of  thy  God  towards  thee? 

Observation  II.  The  grave  is  God’s  known  hiding- 
place  for  his  people:  It  is  his  appointed  shelter 
and  retreat  for  his  favourites,  when  he  finds  them 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  287 

overpressed  either  with  present  dangers  or  calamities, 
or  when  he  foresees  huge  calamities  and  dangers,  like 
storms  and  billows,  ready  to  overtake  them.  Isa. 
lvii.  1:  “The  righteous  is  taken  away  from  the  evil 
to  come.”  God  our  heavenly  Father  beholds  this 
evil  advancing  forward  through  all  the  present  smiles 
of  nature,  and  all  the  peaceful  circumstances  that  sur- 
round us.  He  hides  his  children  in  the  grave  from 
a thousand  sins,  and  sorrows,  and  distresses  of  this 
life,  which  the/  foresaw  not:  and  even  when  they 
are  actually  beset  behind  and  before,  so  that  there 
seems  to  be  no  natural  way  for  their  escape,  God  calls 
them  aside  into  the  chambers  of  death  in  the  same  sort 
of  language  as  he  uses  in  another  case,  Isa.  xxvi.  20: 
“ Come,  my  people,  enter  thou  into  thy  chambers,  and 
shut  thy  doors  about  thee,  hide  thyself  as  it  were  for 
a little  moment  till  the  indignation  be  overpast.’’ 

And  yet  perhaps  it  is  possible  that  this  very  lan- 
guage of  the  Lord  in  Isaiah  may  refer  to  the  grave, 
as  God’s  hiding-place,  for  the  verse  before  promises 
a resurrection:  “Thy  dead  men  shall  live;  toge- 
ther with  my  dead  body  shall  they  arise : awake 
and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust ; for  thy  dew  is  as 
the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  out  the 
dead.”  And  if  we  may  suppose  this  last  verse  to  have 
been  transposed  by  any  ancient  transcribers,  so  as  to 
have  followed  originally  verse  20,  or  21,  it  is  very 
natural  then  to  interpret  the  whole  paragraph  con- 
cerning death,  as  God’s  hiding-place  for  his  people, 
and  their  rising  again  through  the  virtue  of  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ  as  their  joyful  release. 

Many  a time  God  is  pleased  to  shorten  the  labours 
and  travels,  and  fatigues  of  good  men  in  this  wilder- 
ness, and  he  opens  a door  of  rest  to  them  where  he 
pleases,  and  perhaps  surprises  them  into  a state  of 
safety  and  peace,  “ where  the  weary  are  at  rest, 
and  the'wicked  cease  from  troubling ; ” and  holy  Job 
seems  to  desire  this  favour  from  his  Maker  here. 


288 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


Sometimes,  indeed,  in  the  history  of  this  book,  he 
seems  to  break  out  into  these  desires  in  too  rude  and 
angry  a manner  of  expression  ; and  in  a fit  of  crimi- 
nal impatience  he  murmurs  against  God  for  up- 
holding him  in  the  land  of  the  living  : but  at  other 
times,  as  in  this  text,  he  represents  his  desires  with 
more  decency  and  submission.  Every  desire  to  die 
is  not  to  be  construed  sinful  and  criminal.  Nature 
may  ask  of  God  a relief  from  its  agonies  and  a pe- 
riod to  its  sorrows ; nor  does  grace  ^Utterly  forbid  it, 
if  there  be  also  an  humble  submission  and  resigna- 
tion to  the  will  of  God,  such  as  we  find  exemplified 
by  our  blessed  Saviour?  “Father,  if  it  be  thy  will, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me;  yet  not  as  I will,  but  as 
thou  wilt.” 

On  this  second  observation  I desire  to  make  these 
three  reflections: — 

Reflection  1.  Though  a good  man  knows  that 
death  was  originally  appointed  as  a curse  for  sin,  yet 
his  faith  can  trust  God  to  turn  that  curse  into  a bless- 
ing: he  can  humbly  ask  his  Maker  to  release  him 
from  the  painful  bonds  of  life,  to  hasten  the  slow  ap- 
proaches of  death,  and  to  hide  him  in  the  grave  from 
some  overwhelming  sorrows.  This  is  the  glory  of 
God  in  his  covenant  of  grace  with  the  children  of 
men,  that  he  turns  curses  into  blessings,  Deut.  xxiii. 
5.  And  the  grave,  which  was  designed  as  a prison 
for  sinners,  is  become  a place  of  shelter  to  the  saints, 
where  they  are  hidden  and  secured  from  rising  sor- 
rows and  calamities.  It  is  God’s  known  hiding- 
place  for  his  own  children  from  the  envy  and  the  rage 
of  men,  from  all  the  known  and  unknown  agonies  of 
nature,  the  diseases  of  the  flesh,  and  the  distresses  of 
human  life,  which  perhaps  might  be  overbearing  and 
intolerable. 

Why,  O my  fearful  soul,  why  shouldest  thou  be 
afraid  of  dying?  Why  shouldest  thou  be  frighted  at 
the  dark  shadows  of  the  grave,  when  thou  art  weary 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION,  289 

with  the  toils  and  crosses  of  the  day  ? Hast  thou 
not  often  desired  the  shadow  of  the  evening-,  and 
longed  for  the  bed  of  natural  sleep,  where  thy  fatigues 
and  thy  sorrows  may  be  forgotten  for  a season?  And 
is  not  the  grave  itself  a sweet  sleeping-place  for  the 
saints,  wherein  they  lie  down  and  forget  their  dis- 
tresses, and  feel  none  of  the  miseries  of  human  life, 
and  especially  since  it  is  softened  and  sanctified  by 
the  Son  of  God  lying  down  there?  Why  shouldest, 
thou  be  afraid  to  lay  thy  head  in  the  dust?  It  is  but 
entering  into  God’s  hiding-place,  into  his  chambers 
of  rest  and  repbse:  it  is  but  committing  thy  flesh, 
the  meaner  part  of  thy  composition,  to  his  care  in 
the  dark  for  a short  season:  he  will  hide  thee  there, 
and  keep  thee  in  safety  from  the  dreadful  trials  which 
perhaps  would  overwhelm  thy  spirit.  Sometimes  in 
the  course  of  his  providence  he  may  find  it  necessary, 
that  some  spreading  calamity  should  overtake  the 
place  where  thou  dwellest,  or  some  distressing  stroke 
fall  upon  thy  family,  or  thy  friends,  but  he  will  hide 
thee  under  ground  before  it  comes,  and  thus  disap- 
point all  thy  fears,  and  lay  every  perplexing  thought 
into  rest  and  silence. 

Reflection  2.  Let  it  be  ever  remembered,  that 
the  grave  is  God’s  hiding-place,  and  not  our  own: 
we  are  to  venture  into  it  without  terror  when  he  calls 
us;  but  he  does  not  suffer  us- to  break  into  it  our 
own  way,  without  his  call.  Death  and  life  are  in  the 
hands  of  God,  and  he  never  gave  the  keys  of  them 
to  mortal  men,  to  let  themselves  out  of  this  world 
when  they  please,  nor  to  enter  into  his  hiding-place 
without  his  leave. 

Rear  up  then,  O my  soul,  under  all  the  sorrows 
and  trials  of  this  present  state,  till  God  himself  shall 
say,  “It  is  finished;”  till  our  blessed  Jesus,  who  has 
the  keys  put  into  his  hands,  shall  open  the  door  of 
death,  and  give  thee  an  entrance  into  that  dark  and 
26 


290 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


peaceful  retreat.  It  is  a safe  and  silent  refuge  from 
the  bustle  and  the  noise,  the  labours  and  the  troubles 
of  life;  but  he  that  forces  it  open  with  his  own 
hands,  how  will  he  dare  to  appear  before  God  in  the 
wTorld  of  spirits?  What  will  he  answer,  when,  with 
a dreadful  frown,  the  great  God  shall  demand  of  him, 
“Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither?”  Who  sent 
for  thee,  or  gave  thee  leave  to  come?  Such  a 
wretch  must  venture  upon  so  rash  an  action  at  the 
peril  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  his  own  eternal  de- 
struction. 

Our  blessed  Jesus,  who  has  all  the  vast  scheme 
of  divine  counsels  before  his  eyes,  by  having  the 
books  of  his  Father's  decrees  put  into  his  hands,  he 
knows  how  long  it  is  proper  for  thee,  O Christian,  to 
fight  and  labour,  to  wrestle  and  strive  with  sins,  temp- 
tations, and  difficulties,  in  the  present  life : he  knows 
best  in  what  moment  to  put  a period  to  them,  and 
to  pronounce  thee  conqueror.  Fly  not  from  the  field 
of  battle  for  want  of  holy  fortitude,  though  thy  ene- 
mies and  thy  dangers  be  never  so  many,  nor  dare  to 
dismiss  thyself  from  thy  appointed  post,  till  the  Lord 
of  life  pronounce  the  word  of  thy  dismission. 

Sometimes  I have  been  ready  to  say  within  myself, 
Why  is  my  life  prolonged  in  sorrow?  Why  are  my 
days  lengthened  out  to  see  farther  wretchedness? 
Methinks  the  grave  should  be  ready  for  me,  and  the 
house  appointed  for  all  the  living.  What  can  I do 
farther  for  God  or  for  man  here  on  earth,  since  my 
nature  pines  away  with  painful  sickness,  my  nerves 
are  unstrung,  my  spirits  dissipated,  and  my  best  pow- 
ers of  acting  are  enfeebled  and  almost  lost?  Peace, 
peace,  O thou  complaining  spirit;  dost  thou  know7 
the  counsels  of  the  Almighty,  and  the  secret  designs 
of  thy  God  and  thy  Saviour?  He  has  many  deep 
and  unknown  purposes  in  continuing  his  children 
amidst  heavy  sorrows,  which  they  can  never  penetrate 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  291 

or  learn  in  this  world.  Silence  and  submission  be- 
comes  thee  at  all  times.  “ Father,  not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done.” 

And  let  it  be  hinted  to  thee,  O my  soul,  that  it  is 
much  more  honourable  to  be  weary  of  this  life,  be- 
cause of  the  sins  and  temptations  of  it,  than  because 
of  the  toils  and  sorrows  that  attend  it.  If  we  must 
groan  in  this  tabernacle  being  burdened,  let  the 
snares,  and  the  dangers,  and  the  defilements  of  it  be 
the*  chief  springs  of  thy  groaning  and  the  warmest 
motives  to  request  a release.  God  loves  to  see  his 
people  more  afraid  of  sin  than  of  sorrow.  If  thy  cor- 
ruptions are  so  strong,  and  the  temptations  of  life  so 
unhappily  surround  thee,  that  thou  art  daily  crying 
out,  “Who  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  body  of  sin 
and  death,”  then  thou  mayest  more  honourably  send 
up  a wish  to  heaven,  “ O that  I had  the  wings  of  a 
dove,  that  I might  fly  away  and  be  at  rest !”  O that 
God  would  hide  me  in  the  grave  from  my  prevail- 
ing iniquities,  and  from  the  ruffling  and  disquieting 
influence  of  my  own  follies  and  my  daily  temp- 
tations! But  never  be  thou  quite  weary  of  doing  or 
suffering  the  will  of  thy  heavenly  Father,  though  he 
should  continue  thee  in  this  mortal  life  a length  of 
years  beyond  thy  desires,  and  should  withhold  thee 
from  his  secret  place  of  retreat  and  rest. 

A constant  and  joyful  readiness  at  the  call  of  God 
to  depart  hence,  with  a cheerful  patience  to  continue 
here  during  his  pleasure,  is  the  most  perfect  and 
blessed  temper  that  a Christian  can  arrive  at;  it  gives 
God  the  highest  glory,  and  keeps  the  soul  in  the 
sweetest  peace. 

Reflection  3.  This  one  thought,  that  the  grave 
is  God’s  hiding-place,  should  compose  our  spirits  to 
silence,  and  abate  our  mourning  for  the  loss  of  friends, 
who  have  given  sufficient  evidence  that  they  are  the 
children  of  God.  Their  heavenly  Father  has  seized 
them  from  the  midst  of  their  trials,  dangers,  and 


292 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


difficulties,  and  given  them  a secure  refuge  in  his  own 
appointed  place  of  rest  and  safety.  Jesus  has  opened 
the  door  of  the  grave  with  his  golden  key,  and  has 
let  them  into  a chamber  of  repose:  he  has  concealed 
them  in  a silent  retreat,  where  temptation  and  sin 
cannot  reach  them,  and  where  anguish  and  misery 
can  never  come. 

When  therefore  I have  lost  a dear  and  delightful 
relative  or  friend,  or  perhaps  many  of  them  in  a short 
season  are  called  successively  down  to  the  dust,  let  me 
say  thus  within  myself,  “ It  is  their  God  and  my  God 
has  done  it : he  saw  what  new  temptations  were  ready 
to  surround  them^n  the  circumstances  of  life  where- 
in they  stood ; he  beheld  the  trials  and  difficulties 
that  were  ready  to^encompass  them  on  all  sides,  and 
his  love  made  a way  for  their  escape : he  opened  the 
dark  retreat  of  death,  and  hid  them  there  from  a 
thousand  perils  which  might  have  plunged  them  into 
guilt  and  defilement : he  beheld  this  as  the  proper 
season  to  give  them  a release  from  a world  of  labour 
and  toil,  vanity  and  vexation,  sin  and  sorrow : they 
are  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come,  and  I will 
learn  to  complain  no  more.  The  blessed  Jesus  to 
whom  they  had  devoted  themselves,  well  knew  what 
allurements  of  gaiety  and  joy  might  have  been  too 
prevalent  over  them,  and  he  gave  them  a kind  es- 
cape, lest  their  souls  should  suffer  any  real  detri- 
ment, lest  their  strict  profession  of  piety  should  be 
soiled  or  dishonoured:  he  knew  how  much  they 
were  able  to  bear,  and  he  would  lay  upon  them  no 
farther  burden:  he  saw  rising  difficulties  approach- 
ing, and  new  perils  coming  upon  them  beyond  their 
strength,  and  he  fulfils  his  own  promises,  and  glori- 
fies his  own  faithfulness,  by  opening  the  door  of  his 
well  known  hiding-place,  arid  giving  them  a safe  re- 
fuge there.  He  keeps  them  there  in  secret  from  the 
corruptions  of  a public  life,  and  the  multiplied  danger 
of  a degenerate  age,  which  might  have  divided  their 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION. 


293 


hearts  from  God  and  things  heavenly : and  perhaps 
he  guards  them  also  in  that  dark  retreat  from  some 
long  and  languishing  sickness,  some  unknown  dis- 
tress, some  over-bearing  flood  of  misery,  which  was 
like  to  come  upon  them,  had  they  continued  longer 
on  the  stage  of  life. 

“Let  this  silence  thy  murmuring  thoughts,  O my 
soul;  let  this  dry  up  thy  tears  which  are  ready  to 
overflow  on  such  an  occasion.  Dare  not  pronounce 
it  a stroke  of  anger  from  the  hand  of  God  who  di- 
vided them  from  the  tempting  or  the  distressing 
scenes  of  this  world,  and  kindly  removed  them  out  of 
the  way  of  danger.  This  was  the  wisest  method  of 
his  love  to  guard  them  from  many  a folly  and  many 
a sorrow  which  he  foresaw  just  at  the  door.” 

Will  the  wounded  and  complaining  heart  go  on 
to  groan  and  murmur  still,  “But  my  son  was  carried 
oil  in  the  prime  of  life,  or  my  daughter  in  her 
blooming  years:  they  stood  flourishing  in  the  vigour 
of  their  nature,  and  it  was  my  delight  to  behold 
their  growing  appearances  of  virtue  and  goodness, 
and  that  in  the  midst  of  ease,  and  plenty,  and  pros- 
pects of  happiness,  so  far  as  this  world  can  afford 
it!” 

But  could  you  look  through  the  next  year  to  the 
end  of  it?  Could  you  penetrate  into  future  events, 
and  survey  the  scenes  of  seven  years  to  come? 
Could  your  heart  assure  itself  of  the  real  possession 
of  this  imaginary  view  of  happiness  and  peace? 
Perhaps  the  blessed  God  saw  the  clouds  gathering 
afar  off,  and  at  a great  distance  of  time,  and  in  much 
kindness  he  housed  your  favourite  from  unknown 
trials,  dangers,  and  sorrows.  So  a prudent  gardener, 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  sky,  and  skilful  in  the 
signs  of  the  seasons  even  in  the  month  of  May, 
foresees  a heavy  tempest  rising  in  the  edge  of  the 
horizon,  while  a vulgar  eye  observes  nothing  but 
sunshine;  and  he  who  knows  the  -worth  and  the 

26* 


294 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


tenderness  of  some  special  plants  in  his  garden, 
houses  them  in  haste,  lest  they  be  exposed  and  de- 
molished by  the  sweeping  rain  or  hail. 

You  say,  “These  children  were  in  the  bloom  of  life 
and  in  the  most  desirable  appearance  of  joy  and  sa- 
tisfaction.” But  is  not  that  also  usually  the  most  dan- 
gerous season  of  life  and  the  hour  of  most  powerful 
temptation?  Was  not  that  the  time  when  their 
passions  might  have  been  too  hard  for  them,  and  the 
deluding  pleasures  of  life  stood  round  them  with  a 
most  perilous  assault?  And  what  if  God,  out  of 
pure  compassion,  saw  it  necessary  to  hide  them  from 
an  army  of  perils  at  once,  and  to  carry  them  off  the 
stage  of  life  with  more  purity  and  honour?  Surely 
when  the  great  God  has  appointed  it,  when  the 
blessed  Jesus  has  done  it,  we  would  not  rise  up  in 
opposition,  and  say,  “But  I would  have  had  them 
live  longer  here  at  all  adventures:  I wish  they  were 
alive  again,  let  the  consequence  be  what  it  will.” 
This  is  not  the  voice  of  faith  or  patience;  this  is 
not  the  language  of  holy  submission  and  love  to  God, 
nor  can  our  souls  approve  of  such  irregular  storms  of 
ungoverned  affection,  which  oppose  themselves  to 
the  Divine  will,  and  ruffle  the  soul  with  criminal 
disquietude. 

There  are  many,  even  of  the  children  of  God,  who 
had  left  a more  unblemished  and  a more  honourable 
character  behind  them  if  they  had  died  much  sooner. 
The  latter  end  of  life  hath  sometimes  sullied  their 
brightness,  and  tarnished  the  glory  they  had  acquired 
in  a hopeful  youth:  their  growing  years  have  fallen 
under  such  temptations,  and  been  defiled  and  dis- 
graced by  such  failings,  as  would  have  been  entirely 
prevented  had  they  been  summoned  away  into  God’s 
hiding-place  some  years  before.  Our  blessed  Jesus 
walks  among  the  roses  and  lilies  in  the  garden  of  his 
church,  and  when  lie  sees  a wintry  storm  coming 
upon  some  tender  plants  of  righteousness,  he  hides 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION. 


295 


them  in  the  earth  to  preserve  life  in  them,  that  they 
may  bloom  with  new  glories  when  they  shall  be  raised 
from  that  bed.  The  blessed  God  acts  like  a tender 
Father,  and  consults  the  safety  and  the  honour  of  his 
children  when  the  hand  of  his  mercy  snatches  them 
away  before  that  powerful  temptation  comes,  which 
he  foresees  would  have  defiled  and  distressed  and  al- 
most destroyed  them.  They  are  not  lost,  but  they  are 
gone  to  rest  a little  sooner  than  we  are.  Peace  be  to 
that  bed  of  dust  where  they  are  hidden,  by  the  hand 
of  their  God,  from  unknown  dangers!  Blessed  be 
our  Lord  Jesus,  who  has  the  keys  of  the  grave  and 
never  opens  it  for  his  favourites  but  in  the  wisest 
season ! 

Observation  III.  God  has  appointed  a set  time 
in  his  own  counsels  for  all  his  children  to  continue 
in  death:  those  whom  he  has  hidden  in  the  grave 
he  remembers  they  lie  there,  and  he  will  not  suffer 
them  to  abide  in  the  dust  for  ever.  When  Job  en- 
treats of  God  that  he  may  be  hidden  from  his  sorrows 
in  the  dust  of  death,  he  requests  also  that  God  would 
appoint  a set  time  for  his  release  and  remember  him. 
His  faith  seems  to  have  had  a glimpse  of  the  blessed 
resurrection.  Our  senses  and  our  carnal  passions 
would  cry  out,  where  is  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  the  rest  of  the  ancient  worthies,  who  have 
been  long  sleepers  in  their  beds  of  repose  for  many 
thousand  years?  But  faith  assures  us,  that  God  num- 
bers the  days  and  the  months  of  their  concealment 
under  ground,  he  knows  where  their  dust  lies,  and 
where  to  find  every  scattered  atom  against  the  great 
restoring  day.  They  are  unseen  indeed  and  forgot- 
ten of  men,  but  they  are  under  the  eye  and  the  keep- 
ing of  the  blessed  God:  he  watches  over  their  sleep- 
ing dust,  and  while  the  world  has  forgotten  and  lost 
even  their  names,  they  are  every  moment  under  the 


296 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

eye  of  God,  for  they  stand  written  in  his  book  of  life 
with  the  name  of  the  Lamb  at  the  head  of  them. 

Jesus,  his  Son,  had  but  three  days  appointed  him 
to  dwell  in  this  hiding-place,  and  he  rose  again  at  the 
appointed  hour.  Other  good  men,  who  were  gone 
to  their  graves  not  long  before  him,  arose  again  at  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  and  made  a visit  to  many  in 
Jerusalem:  their  appointed  hiding-place  was  but  for 
a short  season ; and  all  the  children  of  God  shall  be 
remembered  in  their  proper  seasons,  in  faithfulness 
to  his  Son  to  whom  he  has  given  them:  the  Head  is 
raised  to  the  mansions  of  glory,  and  the  members 
must  not  for  ever  lie  in  dust. 

Reflection.  Then  let  all  the  saints  of  God  wait 
with  patience  for  the  appointed  time  when  he  will 
call  them  down  to  death,  and  let  them  lie  down  in 
their  secret  beds  of  repose,  and  in  a waiting  frame 
commit  their  dust  to  his  care  till  the  resurrection. 
“All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time,”  says  Job,  “I 
will  wait  till  my  change  come.”  The  word  ap- 
pointed time  is  supposed  to  signify  warfare  in  the 
Hebrew:  as  a sentinel,  when  he  is  fixed  to  his  post 
by  his  general,  he  wails  there  till  he  has  orders  for 
a release.  And  this  clause  of  the  verse  may  refer 
either  to  dying  or  rising  again,  for  either  of  them  is 
a very  great  and  important  change,  passing  upon 
human  nature,  whether  from  life  to  death,  or  from 
death  to  life. 

It  is  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  ch.  xxviii.  16, 
“He  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste,”  that  is,  he 
that  trusts  in  the  wisdom  and  the  promised  mercy  of 
God,  will  not  be  too  urgent  or  importunate  in  any 
of  his  desires:  it  is  for  want  of  faith  that  nature 
sometimes  is  in  too  much  haste  to  die,  as  Job  in  some 
of  his  expressions  appears  to  have  been,  or  as  Elijah 
perhaps  discovered  himself,  when  he  was  wandering 
in  the  wilderness,  disconsolate  and  almost  despairing 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION. 


297 


or  as  the  prophet  Jeremiah  sufficiently  manifested, 
when  he  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  or  as  Jonah 
was,  that  peevish  prophet,  when  he  was  angry  with 
God  for  not  taking  away  his  life;  but  the  ground  of 
it  was,  he  was  vexed  because  God  did  not  destroy 
Nineveh  according  to  his  prophecy : these  are  certain 
blemishes  of  the  children  of  God  left  upon  record  in 
his  word,  to  give  us  warning  of  our  danger  of  im- 
patience, and  to  guard  us  against  their  sins  and  follies. 
And  since  we  know  that  God  has  appointed  the 
seasons  of  our  entrance  into  death,  and  into  the  state 
of  the  resurrection,  we  should  humbly  commit  the 
disposal  of  ourselves  to  the  hand  of  our  God,  who 
will  bestow  upon  us  the  most  needful  blessings  in  the 
most  proper  season. 

Do  not  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  wait  in 
patience  for  the  great  and  blessed  rising-day  which 
God  has  appointed,  and  for  the  illustrious  change  of 
their  bodies  from  corruption  and  darkness  to  light, 
and  life,  and  glory?  God  has  promised  it,  and  that 
suffices,  and  supports  their  waiting  spirits,  though 
they  know  not  the  hour.  The  Father  keeps  that  im 
his  own  hand,  and  perhaps  reveals  it  to  none  but  his 
Son  Jesus,  who  is  exalted  to  be  the  Governor  and  Judge 
of  the  world.  There  are  millions  of  souls  waiting 
in  that  separate  state  for  the  accomplishment  of  these 
last  and  best  promises,  ready  to  shout  and  rejoice 
when  they  shall  see  and  feel  that  bright  morning 
dawning  upon  them. 

Wait  therefore,  O my  soul,  as  becomes  a child  of 
God  in  the  wilderness,  among  many  trials,  darknesses, 
and  distresses.  He  has  stripped  thee  perhaps  of  one 
comfort  after  another,  and  thy  friends  and  dear 
relatives  in  succession  are  called  down  to  the  dust: 
they  are  released  from  their  conflicts,  and  are  placed 
far  out  of  the  reach  of  every  temptation;  and  it  is 
not  thy  business  to  prescribe  to  God  at  what  hour  he 
shall  release  thee  also.  Whensoever  he  is  pleased 


298 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


to  call  thee  to  lay  down  thy  flesh  in  the  dust,  and  to 
enter  into  God’s  hiding-place,  meet  thou  the  sum- 
mons with  holy  courage,  satisfaction,  and  joy,  enter 
into  the  chamber  of  rest,  till  all  the  days  of  sin,  sor- 
row, and  wretchedness  are  overpast:  lie  down  there 
in  awaiting  frame,  and  commit  thy  flesh  to  his  care 
and  keeping,  till  the  hour  in  which  he  has  appointed 
thy  glorious  change. 

s 

Observation  IV.  The  lively  view  of  a happy  re- 
surrection, and  a well-grounded  hope  of  this  blessed 
change,  is  a solid  and  divine  comfort  to  the  saints 
of  God,  under  all  trials  of  every  kind,  both  in  life 
and  death.  The  faith  and  hope  of  a joyful  rising- 
day  has  supported  the  children  of  God  under  long 
distresses  and  huge  agonies  of  sorrow  which  they 
sustain  here.  It  is  the  expectation  of  this  desirable 
day  that  animates  the  soul  with  vigour  and  life  to 
fulfil  every  painful  and  dangerous  duty.  It  is  for 
this  we  expose  ourselves  to  the  bitter  reproaches  and 
persecutions  of  the  wicked  world ; it  is  for  this  that  we 
conflict  with  all  our  adversaries  on  earth,  and  all  the 
powers  of  darkness  that  are  sent  from  hell  to  annoy 
us;  it  is  this  joyful  expectation  that  bears  up  our 
spirits  under  every  present  burden  and  calamity  of 
life. 

What  could  we  do  in  such  a painful  and  dying- 
world,  or  how  could  we  bear  with  patience  the  long 
fatigues  of  such  a wretched  life,  if  we  had  no  hope  of 
rising  again  from  the  dead?  Surely  we  are  the  most 
miserable  of  all  men  in  days  of  public  persecution, 
if  we  had  hope  only  in  this  life,  1 Cor.  xv.  19.  It  is 
for  this  that  we  labour,  and  suffer,  and  endure  whatso- 
ever our  heavenly  Father  is  pleased  to  lay  upon  us. 
It  is  this  confirms  our  fortitude,  and  makes  us  “stead- 
fast, unmoveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  we  know  that  our  labour  shall 
not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord,”  1 Cor.  xv.  58.  It  is 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  299 

this  that  enables  us  to  bear  the  loss  of  our  dearest 
friends  with  patience  and  hope,  and  assuages  the 
smart  of  our  sharpest  sorrows;  for  since  we  believe 
that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  so  we  rejoice  in  hope 
that  they  which  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  be  brought  with 
him  at  his  return,  and  shall  appear  in  brighter  and 
more  glorious  circumstances  than  ever  our  eyes  were 
blessed  with  here  an  earth,  1 Thess.  iv.  13.  This 
teaches  us  to  triumph  over  death  and  the  grave  in 
divine  language,  “O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory?” 

Reflection.  What  are  thy  chief  burdens,  O my 
soul  ? Whence  are  all  thy  sighs  and  thy  daily  groan- 
ings?  What  are  thy  distresses  of  flesh  or  spirit? 
Summon  them  all  in  one  view,  and  see  whether  there 
be  not  power  and  glory  enough  in  a resurrection  to 
conquer  and  silence  them  all,  and  to  put  thy  present 
sorrows  to  flight  ? 

Dost  thou  dwell  in  a vexing  and  persecuting  world, 
amongst  oppressions  and  reproaches?  But  those  who 
reproach  and  oppress  are  but  mortal  creatures,  who 
shall  shortly  go  down  to  the  dust,  and  then  they  shall 
tyrannize  and  afflict  thee  no  more;  the  great  rising- 
day  shall  change  the  scene  from  oppression  and  re- 
proach to  dominion  and  glory.  When  they  lie 
down  in  the  grave  like  beasts  of  slaughter,  death 
shall  feed  on  them,  and  the  upright  shall  have  do- 
minion over  them  in  the  morning,  when  God  shall 
redeem  thy  soul  from  the  power  of  the  grave.  Thy 
God  shall  hide  thy  body  from  their  rage  in  his  own 
appointed  resting-place,  and  he  shall  receive  thy 
soul,  and  keep  it  secure  in  his  own  presence,  till 
that  blessed  morning  break  upon  this  lower  creation; 
then  shalt  thou  arise  and  shine,  for  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  is  risen  upon  thee. 

Do  the  calamities  which  thou  sufferest  proceed 
from  the  hand  of  God?  Art  thou  disquieted  with 
daily  pain,  with  sicknesses,  cftid  anguish  in  thy 


300 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

to  1 


flesh?  Or  art  thou  surrounded  with  crosses  and  dis- 
appointments in  thy  outward  circumstances?  Are 
thy  spirits  sunk  with  many  loads  of  care  and  pressing 
perplexities?  Canst  thou  not  forget  them  all  in  the 
vision  that  faith  can  give  thee  of  the  great  rising-day? 
Canst  thou  not  say  in  the  language  of  faith,  “The 
sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  «hall  be  revealed  in 
us?”  Then  the  head  and  the  heart  shall  ache  no 
more,  and  every  circumstance  around  thee  shall  be 
pleasing  and  joyful  for  ever. 

Or  art  thou  tenderly  affected  with  the  loss  of  pious 
friends,  who  have  been  very  dear  and  desirable? 
Perhaps  thy  sensibilities  here  are  too  great  and 
painful;  they  are  such  indeed  as  nature  is  ready  to 
indulge,  but  are  they  not  more  than  God  requires, 
or  the  gospel  allows?  Do  not  thy  thoughts  dwell 
too  much  on  the  gloom  and  darkness  of  the  grave? 
O think  of  that  bright  hour  when  every  saint  shall 
rise  from  the  dark  retreats  of  death  with  more  com- 
plete characters  of  beauty,  holiness,  and  pleasure 
than  ever  this  world  could  show  them  in!  They 
are  not  perished,  but  sent  a little  before  us  into 
God’s  hiding-place,  where,  though  theydie  in  dust 
and  darkness,  yet  they  are  safe  from  the  dangers 
and  vexations  of  life;  but  they  shall  spring  up  in 
the  happy  moment  into  immortality,  and  shall  join 
with  thee  in  a mutual  surprise  at  each  other’s  divine 
change. 

Or  dost  thou  feel  the  corruptions  of  thy  heart 
working  within  thee,  and  the  sins  of  thy  nature 
restless  in  their  endeavours  to  bring  defilement  upon 
thy  soul,  and  guilt  upon  thy  conscience:  go  on  and 
maintain  the  holy  warfare  against  all  these  rising 
iniquities ! This  thy  warfare  shall  not  continue  long : 
thou  shalt  find  every  one  of  these  sins  buried  with 
thee  in  the  grave,  but  they  shall  arise  to  assault  thee 
no  more.  The  saint  shall  leave  every  sin  behind 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  301 

him  when  he  breaks  out  of  the  dust  at  the  summons 
of  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  find  no  seeds  of  iniquity  in 
thy  body  when  it  is  raised  from  the  grave.  Holiness 
to  the  Lord  shall  be  inscribed  upon  all  thy  powers 
for  ever. 

Or  art  thou  perplexed,  O my  soul,  at  the  near  pros- 
pect of  death  and  all  the  terrors  and  dismal  appear- 
ances that  surround  it?  Art  thou  afraid  to  lie  down 
in  the  cold  and  noisome  grave?  Does  thy  nature 
shudder  at  it  as  a gloomy  place  of  horror?  These, 
indeed,  are  the  prejudices  of  sense;  but  the  language 
of  faith  will  tell  thee,  it  is  only  God’s  hiding-place 
where  he  secures  his  saints  till  all  the  ages  of  sin 
and  sorrow  are  overpast.  Look  forward  to  the  glo- 
rious morning  when  thou  shalt  rise  from  the  dust 
among  ten  thousand  of  thy  fellows,  every  one  in  the 
image  of  the  Son  of  God,  with  their  bodies  formed 
after  the  likeness  of  his  glorious  body,  and  rejoicing 
togeiher  with  divine  satisfaction  in  the  pleasure  of 
this  heavenly  change.  Try  whether  the  meditation 
of  these  glories,  and  the  distant  prospect  of  this  illus- 
trious day  will  not  scatter  all  the  gloom  that  hovers 
round  the  grave,  and  vanquish  the  fiercest  appear- 
ances of  the  king  of  terrors. 

What  is  there,  O my  soul,  among  all  the  miseries 
thou  hast  felt,  or  all  that  thou  fearest,  that  can  sink 
thy  courage,  if  the  faith  of  a resurrection  be  but 
alive  and  wakeful?  But  this  leads  me  to 

Observation  V.  The  saints  of  God  who  are  rest- 
ing in  their  beds  of  dust,  will  arise  joyfully  at  the 
call  of  their  heavenly  Father.  “Thou  shalt  call, 
and  I will  answer  thee,5’  said  holy  Job.  The  com- 
mand of  God  creates  life,  and  gives  power  to  the 
dead  to  arise  and  speak.  I come,  O Lord,  I come. 
When  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  as  with  the  trumpet 
of  an  archangel  shall  pronounce  the  word  which  he 
spake  to  Lazarus,  “ Arise  and  come  forth,”  dust  and 
27 


302 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


rottenness  shall  hear  the  call  from  heaven,  and  the 
clods  of  corruption  all  round  the  earth  shall  arise 
into  the  form  of  man  : the  saints  shall  appear  at  once 
and  answer  to  that  divine  call,  arrayed  in  a glory 
like  that  of  angels;  an  illustrious  host  of  martyrs  and 
confessors  for  the  truth;  an  army  of  heroes  and  va- 
liant sufferers  for  the  name  and  cause  of  God  and  his 
Son;  an  innumerable  multitude  of  faithful  servants 
who  have  finished  their  work  and  lay  down  at  rest. 

How  shall  Adam,  the  father  of  our  race,  together 
with  the  holy  men  of  his  day,  be  surprised,  when 
they  shall  awake  out  of  their  long  sleep  of  five  thou- 
sand years?  How  shall  all  the  saints  of  the  inter- 
mediate ages  break  from  their  beds  of  darkness  with 
intense  delight?  And  those  who  lay  down  but  yes- 
terday in  the  dust  shall  start  up  at  once  with  their 
early  ancestors,  and  answer  to  the  call  of  Jesus  from 
one  end  of  time  to  the  other,  and  from  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  They  shall  arise  together  to  meet  the 
Lord  in  the  air,  that  they  may  be  for  ever  with  the 
Lord. 

Never  was  any  voice  obeyed  with  more  readiness 
and  joy  than  the  voice  or  trumpet  of  the  great  arch- 
angel, summoning  all  the  children  of  God  to  awake 
from  their  long  slumbers,  and  to  leave  their  dusty 
beds  behind  them,  with  all  the  seeds  of  sin  and 
sorrow,  which  are  buried  and  lost  there  for  ever. 
Never  did  any  army  on  earth  march  with  more  speed 
and  pleasure,  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  to  attend 
their  general  to  a new  triumph,  than  this  glorious 
assembly  shall  arise  to  meet  their  returning  Lord, 
when  this  last  trumpet  sounds,  and  when  he  shall 
come  the  second  time  in  the  full  glories  of  his  per- 
son and  his  offices,  as  Lord  and  Judge  of  the  world, 
to  bring  his  faithful  followers  into  complete  salvation. 

Reflection.  Whensoever,  O my  soul,  thou  feelest 
any  reluctance  to  obey  the  summons  of  death,  en- 
courage thy  faith,  and  scatter  thy  fears,  by  waiting 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  303 

for  the  call  of  God  to  a blessed  resurrection.  Jesus 
himself  lay  down  in  the  grave  at  his  Father’s  com- 
mand, and  he  arose  with  joy  at  the  appointed  hour 
as  the  head  of  the  new  creation,  as  th§  first-born  from 
the  dead;  and  he  has  orders  given  him  by  the  Father 
to  summon  every  saint  from  their  graves  at  the  long 
appointed  hour.  Because  Jesus  arose  and  lives, 
they  shall  arise  and  live  also.  O may  my  flesh  lie 
down  in  the  dust  with  all  courage  and  composure, 
and  rejoice  to  escape  into  a place  of  rest  and  silence, 
far  away  from  the  noise  and  tumult,  the  hurry  and 
bustle  of  this  present  life;  being  well  assured  that 
the  next  sound  which  shall  be  heard  is  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God,  “ Arise,  ye  dead !”  Make  haste  then, 
O blessed  Jesus,  and  finish  thy  divine  work  here  on 
earth:  I lay  down  my  head  to  sleep  in  the  dust, 
waiting  for  thy  call  to  awake  in  the  morning. 

Observation  VI.  God  takes  delight  in  his  works 
of  nature,  but  much  more  when  they  are  dignified 
and  adorned  by  the  operations  of  divine  grace. 
“Thou  wilt  have  a desire/’  saith  the  good  man  in 
my  text,  “to  the  work  of  thy  own  hands.”  Thou 
hast  moulded  me  and  fashioned  me  at  first  by  thy 
power,  thou  hast  new-created  me  by  thy  Spirit,  and 
though  thou  hidest  me  for  a season  in  one  of  thy  se- 
cret chambers  of  death,  thou  wilt  raise  me  again  to 
light  and  life,  and  in  my  flesh  shall  I see  God. 

When  the  Almighty  had  created  this  visible 
world,  he  surveyed  his  works  on  the  seventh  day,  and 
pronounced  them  all  good,  and  he  took  delight  in 
them  all  before  sin  entered  and  defiled  them:  and 
when  he  has  delivered  the  creatures  of  his  power 
from  the  bondage  of  corfuption,  and  has  purged  our 
souls  and  our  bodies  from  sin  and  from  every  evil 
principle,  he  will  again  delight  in  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Adam  whom  he  has  thus  cleansed  and 
refined  by  his  sovereign  grace,  and  has  qualified  and 


304 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 


adorned  them  for  his  own  presence:  “He  will  sing 
and  rejoice  over  them*  and  rest  in  his  love.”  Zeph. 
iii.  17. 

He  will  love  to  see  them  with  his  Son  Jesus  at 
their  head,  diffusing  holiness  and  glory  through  all 
his  members.  Jesus  the  Redeemer  will  love  to  see 
them  round  him,  for  he  has  bought  them  with  his 
blood,  and  they  are  a treasure  too  precious  to  be  for 
ever  lost.  He  will  rejoice  to  behold  them  rising  at 
his  call  into  a splendour  like  his  own,  and  they  shall 
be  satisfied  when  they  awake  from  death  into  his 
likeness,  and  appear  in  the  image  of  his  own  glo- 
rious body,  fit  heirs  for  the  inheritance  of  heaven,  fit 
companions  for  the  blessed  angels  of  light,  and  pre- 
pared to  dwell  for  ever  with  himself. 

Reflection.  And  shall  not  we  who  are  the  work 
of  his  hands  have  a desire  to  him  that  made  us,  to 
him  that  redeemed  us,  to  him  that  has  new-created 
and  moulded  us  into  his  own  likeness?  Do  we  not 
long  to  see  him?  Have  we  no  desire  to  be  with  him, 
even  though  we  should  be  absent  from  the  body  for 
a season?  But  much  more  should  we  delight  to 
think  of  being  present  with  the  Lord,  when  our 
whole  natures,  body  and  soul,  shall  appear  as  the 
new  workmanship  of  almighty  power;  our  souls  new 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  our  bodies  new  born 
from  the  dead,  into  a life  of  immortality. 

Observation  VIL  The  last  observation  is  of  a 
very  general  nature,  and  spreads  itself  through  all 
my  text,  and  that  is,  How  much  are  we  indebted  to 
God  for  the  revelation  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
teaches  us  to  find  out  the  blessings  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  Old,  and  to  fetch  out  the  glories  and 
treasures  which  are  concealed  there!  The  writers 
of  the  gospel  have  not  only  pointed  us  to  the  rich 
mines  where  these  treasures  lie,  but  have  brought 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  305 

forth  many  of  the  jewels  and  set  them  before  us.  It 
is  this  gospel  that  brings  life  and  immortality  to  light 
by  Jesus  Christ,  2 Tim.  i.  10.  It  is  this  gospel  that 
scatters  the  gloom  and  darkness  which  was  spread 
over  the  face  of  the  grave,  and  illuminates  all  the 
chambers  of  death.  Who  could  have  found  aout  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  contained  in  that  word  of 
grace  given  to  Abraham,  “I  am  thy  God/7  if  Jesus, 
the  great  Prophet,  had  not  taught  us  to  explain  it 
thus,  Matt.  xxii.  31:  “God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living?7’ 

We  who  have  the  happiness  to  live  in  the  days 
of  the  Messiah,  know  more  than  all  the  ancient  pro- 
phets were  acquainted  with,  and  understand  the 
word  of  their  prophecies  better  than  they  themselves; 
for  “they  searched  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  which  was  in  them,  did  signify,  when 
it  testified  before-hand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and 
the  glory  which  should  follow,77  1 Pet.  i.  11.  But 
we  read  all  this  fairly  written  in  the  gospel.  Do 
you  think  that  good  David  could  have  explained  some 
of  his  own  Psalms  into  so  divine  a sense,  or  Isaiah 
given  such  a bright  account  of  his  own  words  of  pro- 
phecy as  St.  Paul  has  done  in  several  places  of  the 
New  Testament,  where  he  cites  and  unfolds  them? 
Could  those  illustrious  ancients  have  given  us  such 
abundant  consolation  and  hope  through  the  scriptures, 
which  they  themselves  wrote  aforetime,  as  this  apostle 
has  done?  Rom.  xv.  4.  Do  you  think  Job  could  have 
read  us  such  a lecture  on  his  own  expressions  in  this 
text,  or  in  that  bright  prophecy  in  the  xixth  chapter, 
as  the  very  meanest  among  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel can  do  by  the  help  of  the  New  Testament?  For 
in  point  of  clear  discoveries  of  divine  truths  and 
graces,  the  l$ast  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  is 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist  and  all  the  prophets, 
and  our  blessed  Jesus  has  told  us  so,  Matt.  xi.  11,  13. 
And  by  the  aid  and  influences  of  his  Spirit  we  may  be 

27* 


306 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

taught  yet  farther  to  search  into  these  hidden  mines 
of  grace,  and  bring  forth  new  treasures  of  glory. 

Reflection.  Awake,  O my  soul,  and  bless  the 
Lord  with  all  thy  powers,  and  give  thanks  with  holy 
joy  for  the  gospel  of  his  Son  Jesus.  It  is  Jesus  by 
his  rising  from  the  dead  has  left  a divine  light  upon 
the  gates  of  the  grave,  and  scattered  much  of  the 
darkness  that  surrounded  it.  It  is  the  gospel  of 
Christ  which  casts  a glory  even  upon  the  bed  of  death 
and  spreads  a brightness  upon  the  graves  of  the  saints 
in  the  lively  views  of  a great  rising-day.  O blessed 
and  surprising  prospect  of  faith  ! O illustrious  scenes 
of  future  vision  and  transport!  when  the  Son  of 
God  shall  bring  forth  to  public  view  all  his  redeemed 
ones,  who  had  been  long  hidden  in  night  and  dust, 
and  shall  present  them  all  to  God  the  Father  in  his 
own  image,  bright,  and  holy,  and  unblemished,  in 
the  midst  of  all  the  splendours  of  the  resurrection? 
O blessed  and  joyful  voice,  when  he  shall  say  with 
divine  pleasure,  “Here  am  I,  and  the  children 
which  thou  hast  given  me : we  have  both  passed 
through  the  grave,  and  I have  made  them  all  con- 
querors of  death,  and  vested  them  with  immortality 
according  to  thy  divine  commission?  Thine  they 
were,  O Father,  and  thou  hast  given  them  into  my 
hands,  and  behold  I have  brought  them  all  safe  to 
thy  appointed  mansions,  and  I present  them  before 
thee  without  spot  or  blemish/’ 

And  many  a parent  of  a pious  household  in  that 
day,  when  they  shall  see  their  sons  and  their  daugh- 
ters around  them,  all  arrayed  with  the  beams  of  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  shall  echo  with  holy  joy  to 
the  voice  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  “Lord,  here. am  I, 
and  the  children  which  thou  hast  given  me.”  I was 
afraid,  as  Job  once  might  be,  when  his  friends  sug- 
gested this  fear;  I was  afraid  that  my  children  had 
'sinned  against  God,  and  he  had  cast  them  away  for 
their  transgression:  but  I am  now  convinced,  when 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION. 


307 


he  seized  them  from  my  sight,  he  only  took  them  out 
of  the  way  of  temptation  and  danger,  and  concealed 
them  for  a season  in  his  safe  hiding-place:  I mourned 
in  the  day-time  for.  a lost  son  or  a lost  daughter,  and 
in  the  night  my  couch  was  bedewed  with  my  tears: 
I was  scared  with  midnight  dreams  on  their  account, 
and  the  visions  of  the  grave  terrified  me  because  my 
children  were  there:  I gave  up  myself  to  sorrow  for 
fear  of  the  displeasure  of  my  God  both  against  them 
and  against  me:  but  how  unreasonable  were  these 
sorrows?  how  groundless  were  my  fears?  how  glori- 
ously am  I disappointed  this  blessed  morning!  I see 
my  dear  offspring  called  out  of  that  long  retreat 
where  God  had  concealed  them,  and  they  arise  to 
meet  the  divine  call.  I hear  them  answering  with 
joy  to  the  happy  summons.  My  eyes  behold  them 
risen  in  the  image  of  my  God  and  their  God;  they 
are  near  me,  they  stand  with  me,  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Judge;  now  shall  we  rejoice  together  in  the 
sentence  of  eternal  blessedness  from  the  lips  of  my 
Lord  and  their  Lord,  my  Redeemer  and  their  Re- 
deemer.” Amen. 


308 


SPEECH  OVER  A GRAVE. 


Among  my  papers  I have  found  a speech  spoken  at  a grave,  which 
1 transcribed  almost  fifty  years  ago , and  ivhich  deserves  to 
be  saved  from  perishing . It  was  pronounced  many  years 

before  at  the  funeral  of  a pious  person,  by  a minister  there  pre- 
sent, supposed  to  be  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peter  Sterry ; and  the  sub- 
ject of  it  being  suited  to  this  discourse,  1 thought  it  not  im- 
proper to  preserve  it  here. 


Christian  friends,  though  sin  be  entered  into  the 
world,  and  by  sin  death,  and  so  death  passed  upon 
all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned ; yet  it  seems  not 
wholly  suitable  to  our  Christian  hope,  to  stand  by 
and  see  the  grave  with  open  mouth  take  in,  and 
swallow  down  any  part  of  a precious  saint,  and  not 
bring  some  testimony  against  the  devourer.  And 
yet  that  our  witness  may  be  in  righteousness,  we 
must  first  own,  acknowledge  and  accept  of  that  good 
and  serviceableness  that  is  in  it. 

For  through  the  death  and  resurrection  of  our  dear 
Redeemer,  death  and  the  grave  are  become  sweetened 
to  us,  and  sanctified  for  us:  so  that-as  death  is  but  a 
sleep,  the  grave  through  his  lying  down  in  it  and 
rising  again,  is  become  as  a bed  of  repose  to  them 
that  are  in  him,  and  a safe  and  quiet  hiding-place  for 
his  saints  till  the  resurrection. 

And  in  this  respect  we  do  for  ourselves,  and  for 
this  our  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord  accept  of  thee 
O grave,  and  readily  deliver  up  her  body  to  thee;  it 
is  a body  that  hath  been  weakened  and  wearied  with 
long  afflictions  and  anguish,  we  freely  give  it  into 
thee;  receive  it,  and  let  it  have  in  thee  a quiet  rest 


A SPEECH  OVER  A GRAVE. 


309 


from  all  its  labours;  for  thus  we  read  it  written  of 
thee,  “There  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and 
there  the  weary  be  at  rest.” 

Besides,  it  is,  O grave,  a body  that  hath  been 
sweetly  embalmed  by  a virtuous,  pious,  peaceable 
conversation,  by  several  inward  openings  and  out- 
pourings of  the  Spirit  of  life,  by  much  patience  and 
meekness,  in  strong  trials  and  afflictions : receive  it, 
and  let  it  enjoy  in  thee,  what  was  once  deeply  im- 
pressed on  her  own  heart,  and  in  a due  season  written 
out  with  her  own  hand,  a sabbath  in  the  grave: 
for  thus  also  we  find  it  recorded  of  our  Lord  and  her 
Lord,  that  he  enjoyed  the  rest  of  his  last  sabbath  in 
the  grave. 

But  we  know  thee,  O grave,  to  be  also  a devourer, 
and  yet  we  can  freely  deliver  up  the  body  unto  thee. 
There  was  in  it  a contracted  corruptibility,  dishonour, 
and  weakness;  take  them  as  thy  proper  prey,  they 
belong  to  thee,  and  we  would  not  withhold  them 
from  thee:  freely  swallow  them  up  for  ever,  that  they 
may  appear  no  more. 

Yet  know,  O grave,  there  is  in  the  body,  considered 
as  once  united  to  such  a soul,  a divine  relation  to 
the  Lord  of  life;  and  this  thou  must  not,  thou  canst 
not  dissolve  or  destroy.  But  know,  and  even  before 
thee,  and  over  thee  be  it  spoken,  that  there  is  a season 
hastening  wherein  we  shall  expect  it  again  from  thee 
in  incorruption,  honour,  and  power. 

We  now  sow  it  into  thee  in  dishonour,  but  expect 
it  again  returned  from  thee  in  glory;  we  now  sow  it 
into  thee,  in  weakness,  we  expect  it  again  in  power; 
we  now  sow’  it  into  thee  a natural  body,  we  look  for 
it  again  from  thee  a spiritual  body. 

And  when  thou  hast  fulfilled  that  end  for  which 
the  Prince  of  life,  who  took  thee  captive,  made  thee 
to  serve,  theh  shalt  thou  who  hast  devoured,  be  thy- 
self also  swallowed  up;  for  thus  it  is  written  of  thee,. 
“O  death,  I will  be  thy  plague,  O grave,  I will  be 


310 


A SPEECH  OYER  A GRAVE. 


thy  destruction.”  And  then  shall  we  sing  over  thee 
what  also  is  written  of  thee,  “ O death,  where  is  now 
thy  sting?  O grave,  where  is  now  thy  victory?” 
Amen. 

Note.  A line  or  two  is  altered  in  this  speech,  to  suit  it  more 
to  the  understanding  and  the  sense  of  the  present  age. 


DISCOURSE  XII. 


the  nature  of  the  punishments  in  hell. 


Mark  ix.  4G. 

Where  their  worm  dieth  not , and  the  fire  is  not  quenched . 


INTRODUCTION. 

These  words  are  a short  description  of  hell,  by 
the  lips  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  came  down  from 
heaven:  and  he  who  lay  in  the  bosom  of  his  Father, 
and  was  intimate  in  all  the  counsels  of  his  mercy  and 
justice,  must  be  supposed  to  know  what  the  terrors 
and  the  wrath  of  God  are,  as  well  as  his  compassion 
and  his  goodness. 

It  is  confessed,  that  a discourse  on  this  dreadful 
subject  is  not  a direct  ministration  of  grace  and  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation,  yet  it  has  a great  and  happy 
tendency  to  the  same  end,  even  the  salvation  of  sin- 
ful men;  for  it  awakens  them  to  a more  piercing 
sight,  and  to  a more  keen  sensation  of  their  own  guilt 
and  danger;  it  possesses  their  spirits  with  a more 
lively  sense  of  their  misery,  it  fills  them  with  a holy 
dread  of  divine  punishment,  and  excites  the  powerful 
passion  of  fear  to  make  them  fly  from  the  wrath  to 


312 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


come,  and  betake  themselves  to  the  grace  of  God  re- 
vealed in  the  gospel. 

The  blessed  Saviour  himself,  who  was  the  most 
perfect  image  of  his  Father’s  love,  and  the  prime 
minister  of  his  grace,  publishes  more  of  these  terrors 
to  the  world,  and  preaches  hell  and  damnation  to 
sinners  more  than  all  the  prophets  or  teachers  that 
ever  went  before  him;  and  several  of  the  apostles 
imitate  their  Lord  in  this  practice:  they  kindle  the 
flames  of  hell  in  their  epistles,  they  thunder  through 
the  very  hearts  and  consciences  of  men  with  the 
voice  of  damnation  and  eternal  misery,  to  make  stu- 
pid sinners  feel  as  much  of  these  terrors  in  the  pre- 
sent prospect  as  is  possible,  in  order  to  escape  the 
actual  sensation  of  them  in  time  to  come. 

Such  awful  discourses  are  many  times  also  of  ex- 
cellent use  to  keep  the  children  of  God,  and  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus,  in  a holy  and  watchful  frame,  and 
to  affright  them  from  returning  to  sin  and  folly,  and 
from  the  indulgence  of  any  temptation,  by  setting 
these  terrors  of  the  Lord  before  their  eyes.  O may 
these  words  of  his  terror,  from  the  lips  of  one  of  the 
meanest  of  his  ministers,  be  attended  with  divine 
power  from  the  convincing  and  sanctifying  Spirit, 
that  they  may  answer  these  happy  ends  and  pur- 
poses, that  they  may  excite  a solemn  reverence  of  the 
dreadful  majesty  of  God  in  all  our  souls,  and  awaken 
us  to  repentance  for  every  sin,  and  a more  watchful 
course  of  holiness! 

Let  us  then  consider  the  expression  in  my  text: 
when  our  Saviour  mentions  the  word  hell,  he  adds, 
“Where  their  worm  dietli  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched;”  in  which  description  we  may  read  the 
nature  of  this  punishment,  and  the  perpetuity  of  it. 

First,  We  shall  consider  the  nature  of  this  punish- 
ment, as  it  is  represented  by  the  metaphors  which 
our  Saviour  uses;  and  if  I were  to  give  the  most 
natural  and  proper  sense  of  this  representation,  I 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


313 


would  say  that  our  Saviour  might  borrow  this  figure 
of  speech  from  these  three  considerations. 

1.  Worms  and  fire  are  the  two  most  general  ways 
whereby  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  destroyed ; for 
whether  they  are  buried  or  not  buried,  worms  devour 
those  who  by  the  custom  of  their  country  are  not 
burnt  with  fire : and  perhaps  he  might  refer  to  the 
words  of  Isa.  lxvi.  24 ; where  the  prophet  seems  to 
foretell  the  punishment  of  those  who  will  not  receive 
the  gospel,  when  it  shall  be  preached  to  all  nations : 
“They,’*  says  he,  (that  is,  the  true  Israel,  the  saints 
of  God,  or  Christians,)  “ they  shall  go  forth  and  look 
upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  who  have  transgressed 
against  me,  for  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither 
shall  their  fire  be  quenched,  and  they  shall  be  an 
abhorrence  to  all  flesh.”  It  is  highly  probable  that 
this  is  only  a metaphor  referring  to  the  punishment 
of  the  souls  of  obstinate  unbelievers  in  hell,  for  it 
would  be  but  a very  small  punishment  indeed,  if 
only  their  dead  bodies  were  devoured  by  worms  or 
fire,  or  rather  no  punishment  at  all  besides  a memo- 
rial of  their  sin. 

2.  Consider,  the  gnawing  of  worms  and  the  burn- 
ing of  fire  are  some  of  the  most  smarting  and  severe 
torments  that  a living  man  can  feel  in  the  flesh  ; 
therefore  the  vengeance  of  God,  upon  the  souls  of 
obstinate  sinners,  is  set  forth  by  it  in  our  Saviour’s 
discourse;  and  it  was  probably  well  known  amongst 
the  Jews,  as  appears  by  some  of  the  Apocryphal 
writings,  Judith  xvi.  17 : “ Wo  to  the  nation  that 
rises  up  against  my  kindred;  the  Lord  Almighty 
will  take  vengeance  of  them  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
putting  fire  and  worms  in  their  flesh,  and  they  shall 
feel  them  and  weep  for  ever.”  And  Ecclesiasticus 
vii.  16,  17:  “Number  not  thyself  among  the  multi- 
tude of  sinners,  but  remember  the  wrath  will  not 
tarry  long.  Humble  thy  soul  greatly,  for  the  ven- 
geance of  the  ungodly  is  fire  and  worms.’* 

28 


314 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


3.  Consider,  whether  worms  feed  upon  a living 
man  or  devour  his  dead  body,  still  they  are  such  as 
are  bred  in  his  own  flesh ; but  fire  is  brought  by 
other  hands,  and  applied  to  the  flesh : even  so  this 
metaphor  of  a worm  happily  represents  the  inward 
torments,  and  the  teazing  and  vexing  passions  which 
shall  arise  in  the  souls  of  those  unhappy  creatures, 
who  are  the  just  objects  of  this  punishment;  and  it 
is  called  their  worm,  that  worm  that  belongs  to  them, 
and  is  bred  within  them  by  the  foul  vices  and  dis- 
eases of  their  souls:  but  the  fire  which  shall  never  be 
quenched  refers  rather  to  the  pains  and  anguish 
which  come  from  without,  and  that  chiefly  from  the 
hand  of  God,  the  righteous  avenger  of  sin,  and  from 
his  indignation,  which  is  compared  to  fire. 

SECTION  I. 

The  worm  that  dieth  not. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  first  of  these,  namely,  the 
torments  which  are  derived  from  the  gnawing  worm, 
those  agonies  and  uneasy  passions  which  will  arise 
and  work  in  the  souls  of  these  wretched  creatures, 
so  far  as  we  can  collect  them  from  the  word  of  God, 
from  the  reason  of  things,  and  the  working  powers 
of  human  nature. 

When  an  impenitent  sinner  is  cast  into  hell,  we 
have  abundant  reason  to  suppose,  that  the  evil  tem- 
per of  his  soul,  and  the  vicious  principles  within  him 
are  not  abated,  but  his  natural  powers,  and  the  vices 
which  have  tainted  them  and  mingle  with  them  are 
awakened  and  enraged  into  intense  activity  and  ex- 
ercise, under  the  first  sensations  of  his  dreadful  pu- 
nishment. Let  us  endeavour  to  conceive,  then,  what 
would  be  the  ferments,  the  raging  passions,  and 
the  vexing  inward  torments  of  a wicked  man  seized 
by  the  officers  of  an  Almighty  Judge,  borne  away 
by  the  executioners  of  vengeance,  and  plunged 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


315 


into  a pit  of  torture  and  smarting  misery,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  had  a most  fresh  and  piercing 
conviction  ever  present,  that  he  had  brought  all 
this  mischief  upon  himself  by  his  own  guilt  and 
folly. 

1.  The  first  particular  piece  of  wretchedness,  there- 
fore, contained  in  this  metaphor,  is  the  remorse  and 
terrible  anguish  of  conscience  which  shall  never  be 
relieved.  How  terrible  are  the  racks  of  a guilty  con- 
science here  on  earth,  which  arise  from  a sense  of 
past  sins ! How  does  David  cry  out  and  roar  under 
the  disquietude  of  his  spirit ! Psal.  xxii.  3:  “ While 
I kept  silence,”  and  confessed  not  mine  iniquity, 
“ my  bones  waxed  old  through  my  roaring  all  the 
day  long;  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon 
me,  and  my  moisture  is  turned  into  the  drought  of 
summer.”  And  again,  Psal.  xxxviii.  4:  “Mine  ini- 
quities are  gone  over  mine  head,  as  a heavy  burden, 
they  are  too  heavy  for  me.”  God  has  wisely  so 
framed  the  nature  and  spirit  of  man,  that  a reflection 
on  his  past  misbehaviour  should  raise  such  keen  an- 
guish at  his  heart;  and  thousands  have  felt  it  in  a 
dreadful  degree,  even  while  they  have  continued  in 
this  world,  in  the  land  of  life  and  hope. 

But  when  death  has  divided  the  soul  from  this 
body,  and  from  all  the  means  of  grace,  and  cut  off 
all  the  hopes  of  pardoning  mercy  for  ever,  what 
smart  beyond  all  our  thoughts  and  expressions  must 
the  sinner  feel  from  such  inward  wounds  of  con- 
science! and  it  gives  a twinging  accent  to  every 
sorrow,  when  the  sinner  is  constrained  to  cry  out, 
“ It  is  I,  it  is  I who  have  brought  all  this  upon  my- 
self. Life  and  death  were  set  before  me  in  the  world 
where  once  I dwelt,  but  I refused  the  blessings  of 
eternal  life,  and  the  offers  of  saving  grace.  I turned 
my  back  upon  the  ways  of  holiness  which  led  to 
life,  and  renounced' the  tenders  of  Divine  mercy:  I 
chose  the  paths  of  sin,  and  folly,  and  madness,  though 


316 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


I knew  they  led  to  everlasting  misery  and  death. 
Wretch  that  I was,  to  choose  those  sins  and  these 
sorrows,  though  I knew  they  were  necessarily  joined 
together!  I am  sent  into  these  regions  of  misery 
which  I chose  for  myself,  against  all  the  kind  ad- 
monitions and  warnings  of  God  and  Christ,  of  his 
gospel  and  his  ministers  of  grace!  O these  cursed 
eyes  of  mine,  that  led  me  into  the  snares  of  guilt  and 
folly ! these  cursed  hands  that  practised  iniquity  with 
greediness!  these  cursed  lips  of  mine,  which  disho- 
noured my  Maker!  O these  cursed  appetites  and 
passions,  and  this  obstinate  will,  which  have  wrought 
my  ruin ! This  cursed  body  and  soul,  that  have  pro- 
cured their  own  everlasting  wretchedness!”  These 
thoughts  will  be  like  a gnawing  worm  within,  which 
will  prey  upon  the  spirit  for  ever.  The  fretting 
smart  arising  from  this  vexatious  worm  must  be 
painful  in  the  highest  extreme,  when  we  know  it  is 
a worm  which  will  never  die,  which  will  for  ever 
hang  at  our  heart,  and  sting  our  vitals  in  the  most 
tender  and  sensible  parts  of  them  without  intermis- 
sion, as  well  as  without  end. 

Here  on  earth  the  stings  and  scourges  of  con- 
science meet  with  some  intervals  of  relief,  from  ne- 
cessary business  which  employs  the  mind,  from  gay 
company  which  diverts  the  heart,  from  the  refresh- 
ments of  nature  by  day,  or  from  the  sweet  repose  of 
the  returning  night:  but  in  the  world  to  come  every 
hour  shall  be  filled  up  with  these  cutting  sorrows;  for 
there  is  no  season  of  refreshment,  no  diversion  of 
mind,  no  sleeping  there.  All  things  are  for  ever 
awake  in  that  world;  there  are  no  shadows  and  dark- 
ness to  hide  us  where  this  torment  shall  not  find  us, 
for  it  is  bred  and  lives  within.  There  is  no  couch 
there  to  lull  the  conscience  into  soft  repose,  and  to 
permit  the  sufferer  to  forget  his  agonies.  Ancient 
crimes  shall  rise  up  and  stand  for  ever  before  the 
eyes  of  the  sinner  in  all  their  glaring  forms,  and  all 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


317 


their  heinous  aggravating  circumstances:  these  will 
sit  heavy  upon  the  spirit  with  teazing  and  eternal 
vexation  O dreadful  state  of  an  immortal  creature, 
which  must  for  ever  be  its  own  tormentor,  and  shall 
know  no  relief  through  all  the  ages  of  its  immortality  ! 
Think  of  this  bitter  anguish  of  soul,  O sinner,  to 
guard  thee  from  sin  in  an  hour  of  strong  temptation. 

II.  Another  spring  of  this  torment  will  be  the 
overwhelming  sense  of  an  angry  God,  and  utter  de- 
spair of  his  love,  which  is  lost  for  ever.  It  was  the 
thought  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  which  pierced  the 
soul  of  David  with  such  acute  pain,  when  he  re- 
membered his  sins,  Psal.  li.  3,  4:  “My  sin  is  ever 
before  me:  against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I -sinned, 
and  I have  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight:”  and  again 
he  pleads  with  God,  Psal.  vi.  1 : “ O Lord,  chasten 
me  not  in  thine  anger,  nor  vex  me  in  thy  hot  dis- 
pleasure.” He  could  face  a host  of  armed  men  with- 
out fear,  but  he  could  not  face  an  angry  God,  whose 
loving-kindness  is  life,  and  the  loss  of  whose  love  is 
worse  than  death.  Psal.  lxxvii.  3:  “I  remembered 
God,”  said  he,  “and  was  troubled;”  that  is,  lest  he 
should  be  favourable  no  more,  and  shut  up  his  tender 
mercies  in  everlasting-  anger.  This  was  the  terror 
of  that  good  man,  under  a deep  sense  of  his  crimes, 
and  of  God  hiding  his  face  from  him,  and  this  even 
while  he  was  in  the  land  of  the  living,  and  was  not 
cast  out  beyond  all  hope. 

But  when  the  grave  shuts  its  mouth  on  the  sinner, 
and  he  is  thrust  out  into  utter  darkness,  where  the 
light  of  God’s  countenance  never  shines,  nor  will 
shine,  how  insupportable  must  such  anguish  be! 

Here  in  this  life  perhaps  a profane  wretch  has 
imagined  he  could  live  well  enough  without  God  in 
the  world,  and  was  content  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  him  in  a way  of  worship  or  dependence  here. 
He  determined  within  himself,  that  the  less  he  could 
think  of  God  the  better,  and  so  forgot  his  Maker 


318 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


days  without  number:  but  in  those  regions  of  hell, 
whither  the  sinner  shall  be  driven,  he  can  never  for- 
get an  angry  God,  nor  fly  out  of  the  reach  ef  his  ter- 
rors. 

“I  am  now  convinced,”  says  he,  “but  too  late,  that 
happiness  dwells  in  his  presence,  and  rivers  of 
pleasure  flow  at  his  right  hand;  but  this  happiness 
I shall  never  see,  these  streams  of  pleasure  I shall 
never  taste.  He  is  gone  for  ever  with  all  his  love 
and  with  all  his  blessings,  God  is  gone  with  all  his 
graces  and  pardons  beyond  my  reach:  he  stands 
afar  off  from  my  groanings.  He  told  me  of  it  here- 
tofore in  the  ministry  of  his  word;  but,  wretch  that 
I was!  I would  not  hearken,  I would  not  believe. 
I was  invited  by  the  Son  of  his  love  to  receive  his 
gospel,  and  to  partake  of  forgiving  mercy;  he  stretched 
out  his  hands  with  divine  compassion,  and  offered 
to  receive  my  soul  to  his  grace,  and  to  wash  away 
my  defilements  with  his  own  blood ; he  beseech- 
ed  me  to  repent  and  return  to  God,  and  assured 
me  he  would  secure  his  Father’s  favour  to  me,  and 
a place  among  the  mansions  of  his  glory : but  cursed 
rebel  that  I was,  to  despise  this  salvation,  and  resist 
the  offers  of  such  love,  and  to  renounce  such  divine 
compassion!  These  offers  of  mercy  are  for  ever 
finished,  I shall  never  see  him  more  as  surrounded 
with  the  blessings  of  his  grace,  but  as  the  minister 
of  his  Father’s  justice  and  the  avenger  of  his  abused 
mercy.  There  is  no  other  saviour,  no  other  inter- 
cessor to  procure  divine  favour  for  me,  and  my 
hopes  are  overwhelmed  and  buried  in  the  eternal 
despair  of  his  love. 

III.  There  will  be  found  also  among  the  damned 
a constant  enmity,  and  malice,  and  hatred  against 
the  blessed  God,  which  can  never  satisfy  nor  ease 
itself  by  revenge.  It  seems  very  strange  indeed 
that  a creature  should  design  revenge  against  his 
Maker;  but  thus  it  is  in  these  dismal  regions  of  hell; 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


319 


every  wicked  man  is  by  nature  at  enmity  with  God 
and  in  a state  of  rebellion;  and  when  this  enmity  is 
wrought-up  to  malice,  under  a sense  of  his  punishing 
hand,  then  arises  that  cursed  and  detestable  desire 
in  the  soul  of  revenging  itself  against  its  Maker. 
The  fallen  angels,  those  wicked  spirits,  have  found 
this  dismal  temper  of  mind  reigning  in  them;  they 
hate  the  blessed  God  with  intense  malice,  because 
his  governing  justice  sees  fit  to  punish  their  pride 
and  other  iniquities,  and  they  would  fain  be  revenged 
of  him  by  destroying  mankind  who  were  made  after 
his  image;  their  malice  cannot  reach  him  in  the 
heights  of  his  glory,  but  they  can  reach  man  his  crea- 
ture, made  in  his  likeness,  and  they  began  to  take 
their  revenge  there  nearly  six  thousand  years  ago. 
All  the  sins,  and  all  the  miseries  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Adam,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
to  this  day,  are  owing  to  this  madness  of  malice,  this 
hatred  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  evil  angels,  who  were 
cast  out  from  heaven  and  the  regions  of  happiness: 
they  began  to  exert  this  malice  early,  and  still  they 
are  everlasting  tempters  of  men,  in  order  to  avenge 
themselves  upon  a righteous  God. 

But,  alas,  what  a wretched  satisfaction  must  the 
damned  spirits  of  men  propose  to  themselves  in  such 
a wild  and  extravagant  attempt!  The  very  name 
and  mention  of  this  iniquity  seems  to  put  our  souls 
and  our  ears  to  pain,  while  we  dwell  in  flesh  and 
blood;  but  as  cursed  and  hateful  a temper  as  this  is, 
it  is  the  very  spirit  and  temper  of  apostate  angels; 
and  this  will  be  thy  temper  and  thy  spirit,  O wilful 
and  impenitent  sinner,  when  thou  shalt  have  obsti- 
nately sinned  thyself  into  damnation,  and  canst  never 
deliver  thyself  from  the  punishing  hand  of  God. 

Think,  O my  soul,  at  what  a dreadful  distance 
such  creatures  must  be  from  every  glimpse  of  peace 
and  happiness,  whose  hearts  are  filled  with  such  bias- 


320 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


phemy  and  rage,  and  who  would  be  attempting  such 
vain  and  impious  efforts  of  mingled  insolence  and 
madness.  Read,  O ye  foolish  and  wilful  transgres- 
sors, read  the  temper  and  conduct  of  devils  in  their 
spite  and  opposition  to  every  thing  of  God,  through 
all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  and 
remember  and  think,  that  such  will  your  temper  be 
when  you  also  shall  be  banished  from  the  presence 
of  God  for  your  wilful  rebellions,  as  the  fallen  angels 
are,  and  be  for  ever  shut  out  from  all  the  blessings 
of  his  love,  and  all  hope  of  his  favour. 

IV.  A farther  spring  of  continued  torment  is  such 
fixed  and  eternal  hardness  of  heart  as  will  never  be 
softened,  such  impenitence  and  obstinacy  of  soul 
which  will  never  relent  or  submit.  The  hardest  sin- 
ner here  on  earth  may  now  and  then  feel  a relenting 
moment,  and  the  most  daring  atheist  may  sometimes 
have  a softening  thought  come  across  him,  which 
may  perhaps  bring  a tear  into  his  eyes,  and  may 
form  a good  wish  or  two  in  his  soul,  and  wring  a 
groan  from  his  heart  which  looks  like  repentance; 
but  when  we  are  dismissed  from  this  body,  and  this 
state  of  trial  and  of  hope,  eternal  hardness  seizes 
upon  the  mind:  the  neck  is  like  an  iron  sinew  har- 
dened more  (if  I may  so  express  it)  in  the  fire  of 
hell.  The  will  is  fixed  in  everlasting  obstinacy 
against  God,  and  against  the  glories  of  his  holi- 
ness. If  Moses  and  the  prophets,  if  Christ  and 
his  apostles  in  the  ministry  of  the  word  could  not 
soften  the  heart  of  bold  transgressors,  what  can  be 
expected  when  all  the  means  of  grace  and  the 
methods  of  divine  compassion  are  vanished  and 
gone  for  ever. 

It  is  granted,  indeed,  there  will  be  bitter  repen- 
tance among  the  damned  in  hell,  and  inward  vexa- 
tion of  soul  and  self-cursing  in  abundance,  for  having 
plunged  themselves  into  this  misery,  and  having 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


321 


abandoned  all  the  offers  of  divine  mercy;  but  it  will 
be  only  such  a repentance  as  Judas  the  traitor  felt, 
when  he  repented  and  hanged  himself:  this  is  a sort 
of  madness  of  rage  within  them  for  having  made 
themselves  miserable.  But  there  will  be  found  no 
hatred  of  the  evil  of  sin,  as  it  is  an  offence  against 
God,  no  painful  and  relenting  sense  of  their  iniquity, 
as  it  has  dishonoured  God  and  broken  his  law,  no 
such  sorrow  for  sin  as  is  attended  with  a hearty 
aversion  to  it,  and  a desire  to  love  God  and  obey  him ; 
but  rather  they  will  feel  and  nourish  a growing  aver- 
sion to  God  and  his  holiness. 

Ask  yourselves,  my  young  friends,  Did  you  never 
feel  your  hearts  indulging  an  angry  and  unrelenting 
mood,  and  stubborn  in  your  wrath  against  a superior 
who  had  sharply  reproved  you?  Or  have  you  never 
felt  an  obstinate  and  irreconcilable  hour  in  your 
younger  years,  even  against  a parent  who  had  se- 
verely corrected  you?  Or  have  you  not  found,  at 
some  seasons,  your  soul  rising  and  kindling  into  vio- 
lent resentment  and  a revengeful  temper  against  your 
neighbour  upon  some  supposed  affront,  damage,  or 
mischief  he  had  done  you?  Call  these  unhappy 
minutes  to  mind,  and  learn  what  hell  is:  think  into 
what  a wretched  case  you  would  be  plunged,  if  frhis 
wrath  and  stubbornness,  this  enmity  and  hardness 
should  become  immortal  and  unchangeable,  though 
it  were  but  against  a neighbour:  but  if  this  obsti- 
nacy  and  stubborn  hardiness  of  soul  were  bent  against 
God  himself,  so  that  you  would  never  relent,  never 
sincerely  repent  of  your  crimes,  nor  bow,  nor  melt, 
nor  yield  either  to  his  majesty  or  his  mercy,  what 
would  you  think  of  yourselves  and  of  your  state? 
Would  you  not  be  wretched  and  horrible  creatures 
indeed,  without  the  least  reason  to  hope  for  favour 
and  compassion  at  his  hands?  Such  is  the  case,  pro- 
bably, of  every  damned  sinner.  Amazing  scene  of 
complicated  misery  and  rebellion!  a guilty  spirit 


322 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


which  cannot  repent ! a rebellious  spirit  which  cannot 
submit,  even  to  God  himself!  a hardened  soul  that 
cannot  bend  nor  yield  to  its  Maker!  Must  not  such 
a wretch  be  for  ever  the  object  of  its  own  inward  tor- 
ment, as  well  as  of  divine  punishment?  O the  hope- 
less and  dreadful  state  of  every  bold  transgressor, 
that  is  gone  down  to  death  without  true  repentance; 
for,  sincere  and  true  repentance  for  having  offended 
God,  and  ingenuous  relentings  of  heart  for  sin  are 
never  found  in  those  regions  of  future  misery!  No 
kindly  meltings  of  soul  towards  God  are  ever  known 
there. 

V.  There  will  be  also  intense  sorrow  and  wild  im- 
patience at  the  loss  of  present  comforts,  without  any 
recompense,  and  without  any  relief.  If  this  world, 
O sinful  creature,  with  the  riches,  or  the  honours, 
or  the  pleasures  of  it,  be  all  thy  chosen  happiness, 
what  universal  grief  and  vexation  will  overspread  all 
the  powers  of  thy  nature,  when  thou  shalt  be  torn 
away  from  them  all,  even  from  all  thy  sources  of  hap- 
piness by  death,  and  have  nothing  come  in  the  room 
of  them,  nothing  to  relieve  thy  piercing  grief,  nothing 
to  divert  or  amuse  this  vexation,  nothing  to  sooth  or 
ease  this  eternal  pain  at  the  heart  ? 

And  yet,  farther,  when  thou  shalt  be,  as  the  pro- 
phet speaks,  like  a wild  bull  in  a net,  struggling  and 
tossing  to  and  fro  to  free  thyself  on  all  sides,  when 
thou  shalt  be  racked  with  inward  fretfulness  and  im- 
patience, “full  of  the  fury  of  the  Lord”  that  made 
thee,  and  the  rebuke  of  that  God  that  punishes  thee, 
Isa.  li.  20.  Then  shall  thy  heart,  hard  as  it  is  in  an 
obstinate  course  of  sin,  be  ready  to  burst  and  break, 
not  with  penitence,  but  madness  and  over-swelling 
sorrows:  and  yet  it  must  not  break  nor  dissolve,  but 
will  remain  firm  and  hard  for  ever  to  suffer  these 
pangs.  This  is  and  must  be  an  eternal  heart-ache, 
for  there  are  no  broken  hearts  in  hell  in  any  sense 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  IIELL. 


323 


whatsoever.  There  the  eyes  are  weeping,  and  the 
hands  are  wringing,  and  the  tongue  almost  dried 
with  long  wailings  and  outcries,  and  the  teeth 
gnashing  with  madness  of  thought:  this  is  our 
Saviour’s  frequent  representation  of  hell,  “ There 
shall  be  weeping,  and  wailing,  and  gnashing  of 
teeth;”  and  yet  the  heart  ever  living  and  ever 
obstinate  to  supply  fresh  springs  of  these  sorrows, 
and  to  feel  the  anguish  of  them  all. 

YI.  There  will  be  also  raging  desires  of  ease  and 
pleasure  which  shall  never  be  satisfied,  together  with 
perpetual  disappointment  and  endless  confusion 
thrown  upon  all  their  schemes  and  their  efforts  of 
hope.  It  is  the  nature  of  man,  while  it  continues  in 
being,  that  it  must  desire  happiness,  and  make  some 
efforts  towards  it;  and  some  divines  have  supposed 
that  men  of  wicked  sensuality  and  luxury  in  this 
world,  have  so  drenched  their  souls  in  fleshly  ap- 
petite by  indulging  their  lusts,  and  placing  their 
chief  satisfaction  and  happiness  therein,  that  they 
will  carry  this  very  temper  of  sensuality  with  them 
into  the  world  of  spirits;  and  it  is  possible  their 
raging  appetites  to  this  sensual  happiness  may  be 
increased,  while  there  are  no  objects  to  gratify  them : 
now  if  this  be  the  case,  it  must  be  intense  and  con- 
stant misery  to  feel  eternal  hunger  with  no  bread  to 
relieve  it;  keen  desire  of  dainties,  with  no  luxurious 
dishes  to  please  their  humorous  taste;  eternal  thirst 
without  one  drop  of  wine  or  water  to  allay  or  cool 
it;  eternal  fatigue  and  weariness  without  power  to 
sleep,  and  eternal  lust  of  pleasure  without  any  hope 
of  gratification. 

But  if  we  should  suppose  these  sensualities  shall 
die  together  with  the  body,  yet  this  is  certain,  the  soul 
will  have  everlasting  appetites  of  its  own,  that  is, 
the  general  desire  of  ease  and  happiness,  and  of  some 
satisfying  good:  but  God,  who  is  the  only  true 
source  of  happiness  to  spirits,  the  only  satisfying  por- 


324 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


tion  of  souls,  is  for  ever  departed  and  gone;  and 
thus  the  natural  appetite  of  felicity  will  be  ever  wake- 
ful and  violent  in  damned  spirits,  while  every  at- 
tempt or  hope  to  satisfy  it  will  meet  with  perpetual 
disappointment. 

Milton,  our  great  English  poet,  has  represented 
this  part  of  the  misery  of  devils  in  a beautiful  man- 
ner. He  supposes  that  ever  since  they  tempted 
man  to  sin  by  the  forbidden  tree  of  knowledge,  they 
are  once  a year  changed  into  the  form  of  serpents 
and  brought  by  millions  into  a grove  of  such  trees, 
with  the  same  golden  appearance  of  fruit  upon  them ; 
and  while  with  eager  appetite  they  seize  those  fair 
appearances  to  allay  their  thirst  and  hunger,  instead 
of  fruit  they  chew  nothing  but  bitter  ashes,  and  reject 
the  hateful  taste  with  spattering  noise;  and  still  they 
repeat  their  attempts  with  shameful  disappointment, 
till  they  are  vexed  and  tormented,  and  torn  with 
meagre  famine,  and  then  are  permitted  to  resume 
the  shape  of  devils  again.  And  why  may  we  not 
suppose  that  the  crimes  of  which  the  wicked  chil- 
dren of  men  have  been  guilty  in  the  present  life, 
may  be  punished  with  some  such  kind  of  pain  and 
confusion,  both  of  body  and  soul,  as  is  here  repre- 
sented in  this  poetic  emblem  or  parable? 

VII.  Another  misery  of  damned  creatures  is,  that 
vexing  envy  which  arises  against  the  saints  in  glory, 
and  which  shall  never  be  appeased  or  gratified. 
The  blessed  in  heaven  shall  be  for  ever  blessed,  and 
the  envy  of  devils  and  of  damned  souls  shall  never 
hurt  their  felicity,  nor  see  their  joys  diminished. 
This  vile  passion  of  those  cursed  spirits  therefore 
against  the  blessed  inhabitants  of  heaven,  though  it 
rage  never  so  high,  is  only  preying  upon  their  own 
hearts,  and  increasing  their  own  inward  anguish. 

Let  us  imagine  how  many  thousand  holy  souls  are 
arrived  safe  at  paradise,  who  were  surrounded  with 
mean  and  low  circumstances  here  upon  earth,  while 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


325 


their  haughty  lords,  and  their  rich  insolent  neigh- 
bours, have  sinned  themselves  into  hell:  and  do  you 
think  those  children  of  pride  can  ever  bear  this  sight 
without  envy?  How  many  martyrs  have  ascended 
to  glory  from  racks,  and  tortures,  and  fires,  here  upon 
earth,  while  their  bloody  and  cruel  persecutors  have 
been  working  out  their  own  damnation  by  these  in- 
human acts  of  murder  and  cruelty?  And  will  not 
these  wretches,  under  their  righteous  sufferings  and 
punishments  in  hell,  envy  the  creatures  whom  they 
have  scorned,  and  oppressed,  and  murdered  here  on 
earth,  when  they  shall  see  them  placed  on  high  seats 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  themselves  cast  into 
utter  darkness  ? 

And  what  does  all  this  envy  do  but  increase  their 
own  wretchedness?  They  are  distracted  with  pride 
and  rage  to  think  of  these  high  favours  of  the  blessed 
God  bestowed  on  creatures,  whom  they  treated  once 
with  the  utmost  disdain  : but  their  envy,  like  a viper, 
preys  upon  their  own  entrails,  and  shall  never  be  al- 
layed or  made  easy  : they  send  a thousand  curses  up 
to  the  heavenly  world ; but  the  saints  are  for  ever 
secured  in  happiness  under  the  eye  of  God  their 
heavenly  Father,  and  the  care  of  Jesus,  their  almigh- 
ty Friend. 

O what  a painful  plague  must  this  envy  be,  when 
with  all  her  envenomed  whips  and  stings  she  does 
but  scourge  and  torment  the  heart  wdiere  she  dwells  ! 
What  an  unspeakable  torture  must  it  be  to  feel  this 
envy  so  violent  and  so  constant,  that  it  gives  itself 
no  ease  through  everlasting  ages!  Who  is  there 
that  dwells  in  flesh  and  blood  can  conceive  or  ex- 
press the  horror  and  the  twinging  agonies  that  arise 
from  such  a hateful  passion,  fermenting  and  raging 
through  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  ? 

VIII.  The  last  thing  I shall  mention,  as  part  of 
those  punishments  of  hell  which  affect  the  spirit,  is 
a perpetual  expectation  and  dread  of  new  and  in- 
29 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


326 

creasing  punishments  without  end;  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  this  shall  be  the  portion  of  multitudes. 
When  the  souls  of  the  saints  are  released  by  death, 
and  arrive  at  the  blessed  regions,  they  are  not  vested 
with  all  their  brightest  glories  in  a moment,  nor 
fixed  in  the  highest  point  of  knowledge  and  hap- 
piness at  their  first  entrance;  but  as  their  knowledge 
and  their  love  increase,  so  their  capacities  are  enlarged 
to  take  in  new  scenes  and  new  degrees  of  pleasure, 
and  it  is  probable  that  their  felicity  shall  be  ever  in- 
creasing. And  in  the  same  manner,  it  is  not  unlikely, 
that  the  increasing  sins,  the  growing  wickedness,  and 
mad  rebellion  of  damned  spirits,  may  bring  upon  them 
new  judgments  and  more  weighty  vengeance.  So 
it  was  with  Pharaoh  the  Egyptian  tyrant,  when  he 
remained  obstinate  and  rebellious  against  the  mes- 
sages of  God  by  Moses,  even  while  he  and  his  na- 
tion lay  under  the  smarting  scourges  of  the  Almigh- 
ty: how  did  his  plagues  increase  with  his  iniquities! 
And  he  may  be  set  before  us  as  an  emblem  of  sin- 
ners, and  their  sufferings,  under  the  wrath  of  God  in 
hell,  as  in  Rom.  ix.  17,  18. 

Or  perhaps,  as  the  wicked  of  this  world,  when  they 
die,  have  left  evil  and  pernicious  examples  behind 
them,  or  have  corrupted  the  morals  of  their  neigh- 
bours by  their  enticements,  or  their  commands,  or  by 
their  wicked  influence  of  any  kind,  so  their  punish- 
ment may  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  lasting  ef- 
fects of  their  vile  example,  or  their  vicious  influences. 
And  perhaps,  too,  there  are  none  among  all  the 
ranks  of  the  damned,  whose  souls  will  be  filled  so 
high  with  the  dread  and  horror  of  increasing  woes, 
as  lewd  and  profane  writers,  profane  and  immoral 
princes,  or  cruel  persecutors  of  religion.  Jeroboam 
the  king,  not  only  sinned  himself  grievously,  but  who 
made  Israel  to  sin,  as  the  scripture  frequently  ex- 
presses it  with  an  emphasis,  by  setting  up  the  idolatry 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


327 


of  calves  in  the  land,  1 Kings  xiv.  and  xv.  and  xvi. 
His  ghost  stood  fair  for  such  an  increase  of  torment 
from  age  to  age,  as  his  idolatry  prevailed  farther  in 
the  land.  And  all  the  wanton  poets  and  the  vile  per- 
secutors, whether  of  heathen  or  Christian  name, 
whose  writings,  whose  example,  or  whose  laws  have 
conveyed  and  propagated  their  wickedness  from  age 
to  age  after  their  decease,  will  be  some  of  these 
wretched  expectants  of  new  and  increasing  punish- 
ment. 

Have  a care,  O ye  witty  and  ye  mighty  sinners! 
have  a care  of  setting  vile  temptations  and  bad 
examples  before  the  men  of  your  age ! have  a care 
of  spreading  the  contagion  of  your  vices  around  you 
by  the  softness  and  the  force  of  your  allurements! 
Have  a care  of  establishing  iniquity  by  a law,  and 
propagating  loose  and  wicked  opinions,  or  of  encou- 
raging persecution  for  conscience  sake!  Take  heed 
lest  the  cursed  influence  of  your  crimes  should  de- 
scend from  generation  to  generation,  among  the 
living  long  after  you  are  dead,  and  should  call  for 
new  and  sharper  strokes  from  the  punishing  hand  of 
the  Almighty ! 

But  suppose  there  were  nothing  else  but  the  long- 
dreadful  view  of  the  eternity  of  their  present  miseries 
with  an  everlasting  despair  of  ease  or  deliverance, 
this  would  add  unspeakably  to  their  torment:  the 
constant  sensation  of  what  they  feel  now,  and  the 
dread  of  what  they  must  feel,  is  sufficient  to  make 
their  wretchedness  intolerable. 

If  all  these  springs  of  misery  which  I have  already 
mentioned  are,  and  will  be  found  in  the  souls  of 
damned  sinners,  there  is  no  need  of  more  to  make 
them  exquisitely  miserable:  and  yet  since  their  bodies 
shall  be  raised  from  the  dust,  in  order  to  be  joined 
with  their  souls  in  punishment,  as  they  were  united 
in  sin,  why  may  we  not  suppose  that  the  great  God 
will  create  bodies  for  them  of  such  an  unhappy  mould 


328 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


and  contexture,  as  shall  be  another  perpetual  source 
of  pain  and  anguish?  What  if  their  bodies  shall  be 
raised  with  all  the  seeds  of  disease  in  them,  like  the 
gout  or  the  stone,  or  any  more  smarting  malady? 
And  what  if  the  smart  of  these  bodily  distempers 
should  mingle  withjhe  raging  passions  of  the  mind 
as  far  as  it  is  consistent  with  immortality  and  ever- 
lasting duration?  Who  can  say,  that  when  God  ex- 
erts his  power,  and  makes  his  wrath  known,  in  pun- 
ishing obstinate,  rebellious  and  impenitent  sinners,  as 
Rom.  ix.,  he  will  not  frame  such  bodies  tor  them  to 
dwell  in,  as  shall  be  a hateful  burden,  and  an  inces- 
sant plague  to  them  through  all  ages  of  their  duration? 
And  perhaps  these  bodily  pains  may  be  also  included 
in  the  metaphor  of  a gnawing  worm  bred  within 
them,  which  shall  never  die,  which  shall  never  cease 
to  fill  them  wfith  grievous  anguish. 

Here  perhaps  it  may  be  inquired,  Are  there  not 
multitudes  of  men  in  this  world,  who  are  not  sinners 
of  the  grosser  kind,  but  have  lived  in  the  main,  in 
the  practice  of  common  social  duties,  and  have  main- 
tained the  usual  forms  of  religion,  according  to  the 
outward  rules  of  the  gospel,  and  the  custom  of  their 
nation,  but  they  have  been  negligent  indeed  of  any 
sincere  repentance  towards  God,  and  have  been 
strangers  to  inward  vital  religion  throughout  their 
whole  course?  Shall  these  creatures,  who  seem  to 
stand  in  a sort  of  indifferent  character,  who  are  out- 
wardly blameless,  with  regard  to  common  morality, 
and  have  exercised  the  common  virtues  of  justice  and 
benevolence  towards  their  fellow  creatures,  perhaps 
under  the  influences  of  education  or  custom,  or 
perhaps  by  the  effect  that  reason  or  philosophy,  or 
their  inward  fears  have  had  toward  the  restraint  of 
their  passions  and  appetites;  I say,  shall  such  sort 
of  creatures  as  these  be  filled  with  those  furies  of 
rage  and  resentment  against  God,  envy  and  malice 
toward  their  fellow-sinners,  and  all  the  vile  and  un- 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


329 


sociable  passions  in  these  regions  of  misery,  which 
they  have  never  found  working  in  them  here  on 
earth,  or  but  in  a low  degree?  Shall  all  the  tor- 
ments and  inward  anguish  of  soul  that  you  have 
been  describing,  fall  upon  this  rank  of  sinners,  whom 
the  eye  of  the  world  could  hardly  distinguish  from 
good  men,  and  who  were  very  far  from  the  character 
of  wicked? 

I answer,  1st.  That  however  there  may  seem  to  be 
three  sorts  of  persons  in  our  esteem,  namely,  the  good, 
the  bad,  and  the  indifferent,  yet  the  word  of  God 
seems  to  acknowledge  but  two  sorts,  namely,  “Those 
who  fear  God  and  serve  him,  and  those  who  fear 
him  not,’*  Mai.  iii.  18.  Those  who  have  acted 
from  principles  of  inward  religion,  or  the  love  of 
God,  and  those  who  had  no  such  principle  within 
them;  and  therefore  the  scripture  reveals  and  de- 
clares but  two  sorts  of  states  in  the  future  world, 
namely,  that  of  rewards  and  punishments,  or  that  of 
happiness  and  misery:  and  as  God  the  righteous 
Judge  is  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  secret 
principles  and  workings  of  every  heart,  he  alone 
knows  who  have  practised  virtue  sincerely  from 
pious  principles,  and  who  have  had  no  such  prin- 
ciples within  them.  He  well  distinguishes  who  they 
are  that  have  complied  with  the  rules  of  the  dispen- 
sation under  which  they  have  lived,  or  who  have 
not  complied  with  it:  and  such  as  may  have  the 
good  esteem  of  men  may  be  highly  offensive  to  God, 
who  knows  all  things,  and  may  be  worthy  of  his 
final  punishment,  “Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right?”* 


* It  has  been  the  opinion  of  some  writers,  in  elder  and  in  later 
times,  that  the  vast  numbers  of  indifferent  persons,  who  have  neither 
been  evidently  holy  nor  evidently  wicked,  shall  be  sent  to  a new 
state  of  trial  in  another  world ; but  I can  find  nothing  of  this  doctrine 
in  the  Bible,  nor  any  hint  of  it,  unless  in  that  obscure  text  of  St. 
Peter,  I Pet.  iii.  19,  where  Christ  is  said  “ to  go  and  preach  to  the 

29* 


330 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


And  since  he  has  declared  it  to  be  his  rule  of 
judgment,  that  he  will  reward  every  one  according 
to  their  works,  and  it  shall  be  much  more  tolerable 
for  some  of  those  creatures  than  it  shall  be  for  others, 
by  reason  of  their  lesser  crimes,  or  their  nearer 
approaches  to  virtue  and  piety,  so  it  is  certain  he 
will  act  in  perfect  justice  and  equity  towards  every 
criminal,  and  none  shall  be  punished  above  their  de- 
merits, though  no  impenitent  sinner  shall  go  un- 
punished. 

We  do  not  therefore  imagine  that  every  con- 
demned criminal  shall  have  the  same  degree  of  in- 
ward raging  passions,  the  same  madness  and  fury 
against  God  and  their  fellow-creatures,  nor  the  same 
anguish  of  conscience  as  those  who  have  been  more 
grossly  and  obstinately  wicked  and  vicious,  and  have 
wilfully  refused  and  renounced  the  well-known  offers 
of  grace  and  salvation  : there  are  innumerable  degrees 
of  inward  punishment  and  pain,  according  to  the 
degrees  of  sin. 

Answer  2.  It  should  be  added,  too,  that  that  world 
of  punishment  is  also  a world  of  increasing  wicked- 
ness, and  those  that  have  had  some  natural  virtues 
and  some  appearances  of  goodness  here,  may  and 
will  renounce  it  all  in  the  world  to  come,  where  they 
find  themselves  punished  for  their  impenitence  and 
irreligion,  and  their  criminal  neglect  of  God  and 
godliness:  and  the  least  and  lightest  of  the  punish- 
ments of  damned  souls  will  be  terrible  enough,  and 
yet  not  surpass  the  desert  of  their  offences.  They 
have  been  all  in  greater  or  less  degrees  treasuring 
up  food  for  this  immortal  worm  and  fuel  for  this 
fire,  which  is  unquenchable. 

Besides,  it  may  be  added  here,  that  in  threatenings 


spirits”  of  those  sinners  who  were  drowned  in  the  flood  of  Noah, 
which  may,  with  truth  and  justice,  be  construed  to  another 

sense. 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


331 


the  holy  scripture  generally  expresses  them  in  their 
highest  degrees  and  most  formidable  appearances, 
on  purpose  to  secure  men  from  coming  near  the  peril 
and  border  of  them. 

This  shall  suffice  to  explain  the  first  part  of  the 
metaphor  in  my  text,  that  is,  “The  worm  that  dieth 
not.” 

SECTION  II. 

The  fire  which  shall  not  be  quenched. 

I proceed  now  to  consider  the  second  part  of  the 
description  of  hell  in  the  nature  of  it,  as  it  is  repre- 
sented by  our  Saviour,  and  that  is,  that  the  fire  is 
never  quenched. 

Fire  signifies  the  medium  or  instrument  of  torture 
from  without,  which  God  has  threatened  to  employ 
in  the  punishment  of  guilty  creatures,  even  as  the 
gnawing  worm  signifies  their  inward  torment.  Fire 
applied  to  the  sensible  and  tender  parts  of  the  flesh, 
gives  the  sharpest  pain  of  any  thing  that  comes 
within  our  common  notice,  and  it  is  used  in  scrip- 
ture to  signify  the  punishments  of  damned  sinners, 
and  the  wrath  of  God  in  the  world  to  come:  and  per- 
haps that  text  is  the  foundation  of  it,  Isa.  xxx.,  last 
verse,  “Tophet  is  ordained  of  old,  he  has  made  it 
deep  and  large,  the  pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much 
wood,  and  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  like  a stream  of 
brimstone,  doth  kindle  it.?>  This  Tophet  was  a 
place  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  where  children  were 
wont  to  be  burnt  in  sacrifice  to4he  idol  Moloch;  and 
from  these  Hebrew  words,  hell  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  called  Gehenna,  because  of  the  burning  tor- 
ture and  the  terrible  shrieks  of  dying  children  in  this 
valley  of  Hinnom.  • 

This  description  of  hell  by  fire  is  used  by  our  Sa- 
viour and  his  apostles,  in  their  speeches  and  writings 


332 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


on  this  subject.  Hell-fire  is  mentioned  six  times  in 
six  verses  where  my  text  lies;  the  last  sentence  of 
judgment  passed  upon  sinners,  as  it  is  represented 
by  our  Saviour,  is  expressed  in  the  same  language, 
Matt.  xxv.  4:  “Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
fire.”  The  apostle  Paul,  speaking  of  the  return  of 
Christ,  2 Thess.  i.  8,  asserts,  that  “ he  shall  appear 
in  flaming  fire,  to  take  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  and  in  Rev. 
xiv.  10,  11,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  this  book, 
the  final  punishments  of  sinners  is  represented  by 
fire  and  brimstone,  as  the  instruments  of  their  tor- 
ment. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  spirits  or  beings  which  have  no 
body  cannot  feel  burning  by  material  fire,  unless 
they  are  united  to  some  sort  of  material  vehicles; 
but  that  God  will  use  material  fire  to  punish  obsti- 
nate and  rebellious  sinners  hereafter  at  the  resurrec- 
tion, is  not  improbable,  though  it  is  very  hard  to  say 
with  full  assurance:  since  the  bodies  of  the  wicked 
are  to  be  raised  again,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that 
their  habitation  shall  be  a place  of  fire,  and  their 
bodies  may  be  made  immortal  to  endure  the  smart 
and  torture  .without  consuming.  Did  not  this  God, 
by  his  almighty  power  and  mercy,  preserve  the  bo- 
dies of  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abednego  in  the 
burning  furnace  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  so  that  the  fire 
had  no  power  to  consume  or  destroy  them?  And 
cannot  his  power  do  the  same  thing  under  the  in- 
fluence of  his  justice  as  well  as  of  his  mercy?  May 
they  not  be  maintained  for  ever  in  their  existence 
to  endure  the  appointed  and  deserved  vengeance? 
If  the  blessed  God  has  with  much  long-suffering 
borne  with  these  vessels  of  wrath,  under  their  repeat- 
ed^oppositions  to  his  law  and  gospel,  and  they  still 
go  on  in  their  vice,  obstinacy,  and  impenitence,  and 
have  fitted  themselves  for  destruction,  surely  he  will 
make  his  wrath  and  power  known  in  their  punish- 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


333 


ment,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it,  Rom.  ix.;  and  when 
the  power  and  wrath  of  God  unite  to  punish  a crea- 
ture, how  miserable  must  that  creature  be! 

It  is  certain,  that  God  has  been  pleased  in  his 
word  frequently  to  make  use  of  tire,  brimstone,  burn- 
ing*, smoke,  darkness,  and  chains,  and  every  thing 
that  is  painful  and  noisome  to  nature  on  earth,  in 
order  to  represent  the  miseries  that  he  has  prepared 
for  sinners  in  hell;  and  we  must  suppose  that  all 
these  metaphors,  if  they  are  but  mere  metaphors, 
carry  with  them  a sense  of  most  intense  pain  and  an- 
guish with  which  God  will  afflict  the  bodies,  as  well 
as  the  spirits  of  those  guilty  creatures,  who  have  re- 
belled against  his  majesty,  rejected  his  mercy,  and 
exposed  themselves  to  his  indignation.  But  what 
particular  instruments  and  methods  of  punishment, 
what  other  elements  or  means  of  torture  the  great 
God  will  make  use  of  to  execute  his  sentence  in  this 
tremendous  work,  is  more  than  we  can  now  declare, 
because  God  has  not  fully  declared  it:  and  I pray 
God  none  of  us  may  be  ever  doomed  to  learn  it  by 
terrible  experience.  But  if  there  be  nothing  but  fire, 
the  anguish  will  be  intolerable,  as  one  of  our  poets 
expresses  it, 

In  liquid  burnings,  or  on  dry,  to  dwell, 

Is  all  the  sad  variety  of  hell. 

Or  what  if  the  Almighty,  who  has  all  nature,  with 
all  its  powers,  at  his  command,  should  employ  other 
material  instruments  for  the  execution  of  his  deserved 
wrath ! What  if  he  should  choose  the  alternate  ex- 
tremes of  fire  and  frost,  as  some  have  imagined,  to 
torment  those  impenitent  criminals!  Or  what  if  the 
creatures  which  they  have  abused  to  their  impious 
and  brutish  purposes,  should  be  made  instruments 
and  mediums  of  their  punishment!  Wine  may  be 
rendered  a frequent  means  of  sickness,  agony,  and 


334 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


'pain  to  the  drunkard,  and  meat  and  other  dainties 
to  the  glutton,  and  gold  to  the  covetous  wretches 
who  made  gold  their  god,  that  they  may  all  remem- 
ber their  crimes  in  their  sufferings.  The  wisdom  of 
God  will  execute  the  sentence  of  his  justice  in  the 
most  honourable  manner. 

And  after  all,  if  we  call  away  our  thoughts  from 
fire,  and  every  material  instrument  of  pain,  which 
the  great  God  may  employ  in  punishing  obstinate 
rebels,  and  survey  only  those  acute  and  dreadful  im- 
pressions of  horror  and  anguish,  which  a just  and 
holy  God  may  make  on  sinful  spirits  in  an  immediate 
manner  in  hell,  this  would  overwhelm  our  souls  with 
insupportable  agonies:  “Who  knows  the  power  of 
thine  anger?  even  according  to  thy  fear,  so  is  thy 
wrath,”  says  Moses,  Psal.  xc.  Our  fears  do  not  rise 
above  those  evils  which  the  wrath  of  God  will  inflict. 
Who  knows  what  are  those  arrows  of  the  Almighty, 
of  which  Job  speaks,  the  poison  whereof  drank  up 
his  spirits,  and  those  terrors  of  God  which  set  them- 
selves in  array  against  him?  Who  knows  what  our 
Saviour  felt  in  the  hour  of  his  agony  and  atonement 
for  our  sins,  which  made  him  sweat  drops  of  blood? 
And  what  sort  of  terrible  impressions  God  himself 
may  make  of  his  own  wrath  and  vengeance,  on  the 
heart  of  such  criminals  as  wilfully  reject  his  salva- 
tion, is  beyond  our  thoughts  to  conceive,  or  our  lan- 
guage to  express. 

Thus  much  shall  suffice  concerning  the  metaphor 
of  fire,  and  the  hand  of  God  himself  in  kindling  this 
fire  for  the  execution  of  his  sentence  against  impeni- 
tents.  But  since  I have  entered  so  far  into  this  sub- 
ject, I cannot  think  it  proper  entirely  to  finish  it, 
without  giving  notice  of  some  different  and  dreadful 
additions  to  their  torment  which  will  arise  from  evil 
angels,  and  from  their  companions  in  sin  and  misery 
among  the  children  of  men:  for  in  the  agonies  of 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


335 


our  Saviour,  men  and  devils  joined  together  to  afflict 
him,  when  it  “pleased  the  Father  to  bruise  him, 
and  to  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  our  sins.” 

I.  Evil  angels,  wicked  and  unclean  spirits,  with 
all  their  furious  dispositions  and  active  powers,  will 
increase  the  misery  of  the  damned.  They  paved  the 
way  to  hell  for  man  by  the  first  temptation  of  our 
parents  in  paradise,  and  they  have  been  ever  since 
busy  in  tempting  the  children  of  men  to  sin,  and 
they  will  be  hereafter  as  busy  in  giving  them  tor- 
ment. When  these  wicked  spirits,  O sinner,  who 
have  taken  thee  as  a willing  captive  by  their  baits 
and  devices  in  this  world,  when  they  have  led  thee 
down  through  the  paths  of  vice  to  the  regions  of 
sorrow,  they  will  begin  then  to  insult  thee  with  hate- 
ful reproaches,  and  to  triumph  over  thee  with  inso- 
lence and  scorn.  When  they  have  deceived  thee 
on  earth,  to  thy  own  perdition,  they  will  make 
thee  the  object  of  their  bitter  ridicule  and  mockery 
in  hell. 

O could  we  turn  aside  the  veil  of  the  invisible 
world,  and  hold  the  bottomless  pit  open  before  you, 
what  bitter  groans  of  ghosts  would  you  hear,  not 
only  oppressed  and  agonizing  under  the  wrath  of  a 
righteous  God,  but  also  under  the  insults  of  cruel 
devils?  As  there  is  joy  among  the  angels  of  heaven 
when  a sinner  repents,  or  when  a soul  arrives  safely 
at  those  blessed  mansions;  so  when  a rebellious 
and  obstinate  criminal  is  sent  down  to  hell,  you 
would  hear  the  triumphs  of  those  malicious  spirits 
over  him,  with  the  voice  of  insulting  pride  and  hell- 
ish joy;  and  while  they  domineer  over  you,  and 
tear  you  as  roaring  lions,  who  seek  and  tear  their 
prey,  you  will  curse  yourselves  a thousand  times  for 
hearkening  to  their  deceitful  allurements.  You  will 
vent  your  rage  against  yourselves  at  the  same  time 
that  they  scoff  at  you  as  eternal  fools  who  have  lost 
God,  and  heaven,  and  immortal  happiness,  by  your 


i 

33Q  the  nature  of  the 

own  madness  and  folly  in  hearkening  to  their  temp- 
tations. 

II.  The  mutual  upbraidings  of  fellow-sinners  and 
fellow-sufferers  among  the  children  of  men,  will  ag- 
gravate your  wretchedness  day  and  night  without 
end.  Those  who  drew  each  other  into  foul  iniqui- 
ties, shall  fill  the  ears  of  each  other  with  loud  and 
sharp  reproaches  for  their  mutual  influence  on  both 
their  ruin,  and  shall  charge  their  damnation,  and  all 
their  heavy  sorrows,  as  a heavy  load  on  each  other’s 
souls.  Some  of  those  who  have  been  joined  in  the 
nearest  ties  of  kindred  and  friendship,  while  they 
dwelt  in  flesh  and  blood,  shall  be  the  terrible  instru- 
ments of  their  keenest  remorse  and  vexation,  and 
tease  their  spirits  with  endless  upbraidings. 

Here  the  sons  of  pride,  that  most  hateful  iniquity, 
shall  be  overwhelmed  with  huge  mortification  and 
disdain : the  mighty  sinner  shall  be  insulted  by  the 
meanest  of  the  crowd,  and  princes  shall  be  beard- 
ed and  affronted  by  those  gay  slaves  of  the  coujt, 
whom  they  once  employed  in  flattering  and  adoring 
them.  They  were  once  vain  enough  to  believe,  they 
were  something  more  than  mortal;  but  now  they  are 
spurned  by  those  very  flatterers  with  a foot  of  con- 
tempt, and  their  eternal  pride  still  swelling,  gives 
their  own  hearts  new  stings  and  twinges  at  every 
resentment.  None  but  a proud  and  haughty  crea- 
ture here  in  this  world,  who  has  sometimes  met  with 
scorn  and  insult  from  his  inferiors,  can  speak  feel- 
ingly of  the  exquisite  sensibility  of  these  torments  of 
soul  in  hell. 

But  besides  this,  there  are  many  sinners,  who 
lived  in  malice,  and  who  died  with  their  hearts  full 
of  revenge  against  their  fellow-sinners;  and  when 
they  shall  meet  them  in  those  deplorable  regions, 
how  natural  is  it  to  suppose  they  will  endeavour  to 
execute  this  revenge  upon  them  without  end  and 
without  mercy ! For  it  may  be  easily  supposed  that 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


337 


malice,  revenge,  and  cruelty,  which  are  the  proper 
character  .of  devils,  shall  not  be  abated  among  the 
children  of  men,  when  they  are  grown  so  near  akin 
in  their  tempers  to  those  evil  spirits,  and  are  now 
for  ever  mingled  amongst  them. 

And  yet  farther,  who  knows  what  the  damned  in 
hell  shall  endure  from  the  endless  brawls  and  bitter 
quarrels  among  themselves?  What  new  contentions 
will  arise  perpetually  in  such  a country,  where  it  is 
perhaps  the  practice  and  custom  of  the  place,  and 
nature  of  the  inhabitants,  for  the  most  part,  to  make 
every  one  of  their  fellows  as  uneasy  and  as  miserable 
as  they  can?  O what  mad  and  furious  pride,  and 
malice,  and  every  hellish  passion,  will  be  raging 
almost  in  every  bosom  against  all  those  who  are  near 
them,  and  this  in  a dark  prison  where  all  are  intensely 
tormented,  and  where  there  is  no  such  thing  as  com- 
passion or  sincere  love,  nothing  to  sooth  each  other’s 
sorrows,  but  every  thing  that  may  add  to  the  smart 
and  anguish ! 

O that  the  present  survey  of  these  horrors  of  soul, 
these  complicated  distresses  and  miseries  from  within 
us  and  without  us,  from  every  quarter  of  heaven  and 
hell,  from  the  gnawing  worm  within  us,  and  from 
the  fire  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  mutual  insults, 
railings,  and  injuries  of  men  and  devils,  might  all  lie 
with  its  due  weight  upon  our  spirits  now,  while  we 
are  in  the  land  of  hope;  that  every  one  of  us  maybe 
awakened  to  a timely  concern  about  our  highest  in- 
terest, and  hasten  to  make  our  escape  as  Lot  did  from 
Sodom,  lest  the  sentence  of  death  be  pronounced 
upon  us  while  we  delay,  and  the  fiery  deluge  over- 
take us. 

But  here  I would  tarry  a little,  to  answer  a re- 
peated objection,  namely,  The  terror  of  this  outw'ard 
punishment  from  the  hand  of  God,  which  is  described 
by  avenging  fire  is  so  severe  and  intolerable,  that  it 
awakens  some  lesser  criminals  to  raise  the  same  cavil 
30 


338 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


against  this  unquenchable  fire,  or  God’s  punishing 
hand,  as  was  raised  before  against  the  never-dying 
worm,  or  the  inward  anguish  of  soul  arising  from  its 
own  conscience. 

It  is  possible  some  lesser  sinner,  who  has  had  more 
appearances  of  piety  or  religion  here  on  earth,  may 
rise  and  say,  You  have  set  the  punishments  of  sin 
in  a most  horrible  and  tremendous  light,  from  this 
metaphor  of  fire,  as  well  as  from  the  deathless  worm  : 
but  surely  this  cannot  be  the  case,  nor  these  the  suf- 
ferings which  God  will  inflict  on  every  wretched 
creature  in  hell.  Are  not  the  punishments  there 
proportioned  to  the  offences?  What  if  these  sharpest 
and  deepest  tortures  and  horrors  should  be  the  por- 
tion of  the  vilest  criminals,  the  most  impious  rebels 
against  God,  the  profane  and  obstinate  abusers  of 
grace,  the  scoffers  at  Christ  and  his  gospel,  and  the 
cruel  persecutors  of  all  the  saints,  yet  will  every  soul 
who  had  not  quite  religion  and  holiness  enough  to 
reach  heaven,  be  thus  terribly  tormented  in  hell? 
Does  not  Christ  himself  tell  us,  and  did  you  not  allow 
before,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  some  sin- 
ners than  for  others?  And  will  there  be  no  easier 
abodes,  no  milder  regions,  no  kinder  and  more  fa- 
vourable appointments,  for  such  as  have  had  many 
good  wishes  and  hopes,  many  friendly  exercises  of 
virtue  towards  men,  and  some  workings  of  imperfect 
piety  towards  God  ? 

To  this  I answer,  as  before,  It  is  certain  that  every 
one  shall  be  judged  according  to  his  works,  by  an 
unerring  rule  of  equity,  and  shall  be  punished  ac- 
cording to  the  aggravation  of  his  iniquities.  But 
dost  thou  know,  O sinner,  how  great  is  that  punish- 
ment which  the  least  transgression  against  the  law 
of  God  deserves?  One  single  sin,  which  thou  wilt 
not  part  with,  will  create  insufferable  misery.  And 
though  there  may  be  other  criminals  there  of  much 
more  heinous  and  aggravated  guilt,  profaneness, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


339 


and  rebellion  than  thine  is,  yet  if  thy  soul  be  filled 
with  all  that  torment,  which  one  sin  may  create  and 
deserve,  there  will  be  hell  enough  around  thee  to 
make  thy  distress  too  terrible  for  thee  to  bear. 

Besides,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  whatever  ten- 
dencies toward  piety,  or  appearances  of  goodness 
might  be  found  with  thee  in  this  world,  all  these 
will  vanish  and  be  lost,  when  once  thy  day  of  grace 
is  finished,  and  all  the  means  of  grace  and  salvation 
are  ended  for  ever.  If  thou  hast  refused  the  pro- 
posals of  mercy,  and  continued  in  thy  sins  without 
repentance,  and  hast  never  accepted  the  salvation 
of  Christ  while  it  was  offered,  all  the  good  that 
thou  seemest.  to  have  shall  be  taken  from  thee, 
Matt.  xxv.  29;  or  rather  thy  heart  itself  will  grow 
more  hard,  thy  will  more  obstinate  against  God, 
and  every  evil  passion  will  rise  and  prevail,  and 
make  thee  perhaps  as  very  a devil  as  thy  companions 
in  guilt  and  misery.  It  is  for  those  who  would  not 
part  with  their  beloved  sins,  which  were  as  dear 
as  right  hands,  or  as  right  eyes,  that  the  never-dying 
worm  and  the  unquenchable  fire  are  prepared,  as 
the  context  itself  informs  us  in  this  place. 

And  as  the  worm  of  conscience,  even  for  lesser 
sins,  will  gnaw  thy  heart  with  intense  anguish,  so 
the  vengeance  of  divine  fire  will  torment  thee  with 
exquisite  pain,  though  thy  pain  and  thy  anguish  shall 
not  be  equal  to  what  greater  criminals  endure.  But 
it  is  wise  and  kind  in  the  blessed  God  to  denounce 
the  terrors  and  sanctions  of  his  law  in  their  utmost 
severity,  to  guard  his  law  the  better  against  every 
transgression,  and  to  frighten  and  secure  his  crea- 
tures from  sin  and  punishment. 

Trifle  not  therefore,  O sinner,  with  the  means  of 
mercy,  and  venture  not  upon  little  sins,  in  hope  of 
little  misery,  nor  dare  to  continue  in  an  impenitent 
state  without  God,  without  Christ  and  his  salvation, 
upon  a foolish  presumption  that  thy  sins  are  but 


340 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


small,  and  thy  punishment  shall  be  less  than  others; 
for  the  least  of  those  sorrows  shall  be  found  greater 
than  any  mortal  creature  can  bear,  and  therefore 
thou  shalt  be  made  immortal  to  suffer  them. 

It  is  granted  there  are  many  mansions  in  hell,  as 
well  as  in  heaven,  but  as  the  lowest  mansion  in 
heaven  is  happiness,  so  the  easiest  place  in  hell  is 
misery. 

There  is  another  objection  rises  here,  to  which  it 
is  necessary  to  give  some  answer,  namely,  If  the  pu- 
nishments of  hell  are  so  intense  and  terrible,  between 
the  worm  of  conscience,  the  fire  of  God’s  anger,  and 
the  malice  of  evil  spirits,  surely  it  will  work  up  human 
nature  into  ecstasy  and  madness;  it  will  take  away 
all  the  regular  exercise  of  our  natural  powers;  it  will 
render  us  perhaps  mere  passive  miserable  beings,  of 
keen  sensations  without  reasoning.  This  is  certain, 
that  such  and  so  various  tortures  would  have  that 
influence  upon  our  natures  at  present,  and  why 
should  it  not  hereafter?  And  will  the  blessed  God 
continue  to  punish  creatures  when  their  reason  is 
lost?  What  can  such  punishments  avail? 

I answer,  surely  God  will  not  continue  to  punish 
madmen;  therefore  none  of  these  torments  shall 
extinguish  our  reason,  or  destroy  our  intellectual 
powers;  for  it  is  as  creatures  of  reason  and  free 
will  that  sinners  are  thus  punished,  and  therefore 
these  powers  must  remain  in  their  proper  exercise: 
besides,  the  very  operations  of  these  powers  in  self- 
condemnation,  and  self-upbraiding,  are  part  of  their 
punishment.  But  whether  God  will  so  fortify  the 
natures  of  the  damned,  which  probably  shall  not  be 
made  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  enable  them  to  bear 
such  intense  pain  without  distraction,  or  whether  the 
highest  extremes  of  their  torment  shall  only  be 
indicted  at  some  certain  periods  or  intervals,  so  that 
they  shall  soon  return  to  their  reasoning  powers 
again,  with  bitter  remembrance  of  what  passed, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


341 


this  matter  is  hard  to  determine;  and  because  it  is 
unwritten  and  unrevealed,  I am  silent.  But  it  still 
remains  that  punishment  shall  be  so  intense  and 
severe,  as  becomes  a God  of  holiness  and  justice  to 
inflict  on  rebellious  and  obstinate  creatures. 

SECTION  III. 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  NATURE  OF  THESE  PUNISHMENTS. 

It  is  time  now  that  we  should  proceed  to  force 
some  special  reflections  on  the  nature  of  the  punish- 
ments of  hell,  such  as  they  have  been  described  in 
the  foregoing  discourse. 

The  first  is  this:  What  dreadful  and  unknown  evil 
is  contained  in  the  nature  of  sin,  which  grows  up 
into  such  misery,  which  breeds  this  stinging  worm 
in  the  conscience,  which  prepares  the  creature  for 
such  fiery  torments,  and  which  provokes  God  to 
inflict  them!  The  vessels  of  wrath  have  prepared 
themselves  for  it,  as  the  apostle  intimates,  by  their 
own  sins,  Rom.  ix.  22,  they  are  fitted  for  destruction : 
nor  does  all  the  intense  and  infinite  anguish  of  this 
punishment  exceed  the  desert  of  our  sins.  The  great 
God,  in  a way  of  bounty,  may  often  bestow  upon  us 
vastly  beyond  what  our  little  services  can  ever  pre- 
tend to  have  deserved,  but  he  never  punishes  beyond 
our  deserts. 

What  a dangerous  and  pernicious  mistake  is  it  in 
the  children  of  men  to  sport  with  sin,  as  with  a harm- 
less thing!  It  is  much  safer  sporting  with  a poison- 
ous serpent,  or  with  burning  firebrands.  The  ser- 
pent has  many  gay  and  pleasing  colours  on  its  skin, 
and  appears  a very  charming  creature,  which  tempts 
children  and  fools  to  play  with  it:  and  the  same 
ignorance  inclines  them  sometimes  to  sport  with  fire, 
because  of  its  shining  brightness:  and  till  they  are 
burnt  with  the  fire,  or  bit  by  the  serpent,  they  will 

30* 


342 


THE  NATURE  Of  THE 


not  forsake  their  foolish  choice,  nor  be  convinced  of 
their  danger:  such  is  the  case  and  temper  of  sinful 
mortals;  their  senses  indulge  the  pleasing  flatteries 
of  sin,  and  are  fond  of  its  tempting  amusements,  till 
they  feel  the  smart  of  the  fire  raging  in  their  bosoms, 
and  the  adder  stings  them  to  death.  Thus  the  wise 
man  describes  the  flatteries  of  wine  in  the  view  of 
the  drunkard,  Prov.  xxiii.  31,  32.  But  the  same 
wise  man  pronounces  every  one  a fool  that  makes  a 
mock  at  sin,  or  trifles  with  so  formidable  a mischief, 
Prov.  xiv.  9. 

How  vain  are  the  gay  fancies  of  sinful  men  in  the 
hour  of  temptation,  and  how  shocking  and  dreadful 
will  be  their  disappointment!  They  think  the  de- 
scriptions of  sin,  which  are  blown  up  and  kindled 
into  such  terror  by  the  lips  of  the  preacher,  are  but 
as  mock  fire  which  never  burns;  but  the  great  day 
of  vengeance  wdiich  makes  haste  towards  them,  will 
terribly  and  eternally  convince  them  of  the  fatal  mis- 
chief of  it  by  the  various  plagues  that  shall  seize 
upon  them.  The  living  worm  shall  gnaw  their  con- 
sciences, and  the  fire  of  God  will  torment  their  spi- 
rits and  spread  a raging  anguish  through  their 
whole  natures;  and  every  twinging  accent  of  their 
pain  shall  teach  them,  but  with  a terrible  and  hope- 
less conviction,  what  unspeakable  evil  is  contained 
in  sin.  They  will  then  find  what  a “ fearful  thing  it 
is  to  falPi n to  the  hands  of  the  living  God/’  who  has 
a right,  and  power,  and  will  to  punish,  Heb.  x.  31. 

O that  each  of  us  might  arrive  at  this  holy  wisdom, 
to  learn  the  dreadful  evil  of  sin  from  this  Bible,  this 
book  of  the  divine  law  and  grace,  and  not  provoke 
the  blessed  God  to  teach  us  so  necessary  a lesson 
by  the  rod  of  his  vengeance!  O that  we  could 
look  upon  every  unlawful  action,  and  particularly 
every  sin  against  conscience,  as  the  seed  of  that 
wrorm  which  will  gnaw  our  souls  in  hell  with  intense 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


343 


pain,  as  part  of  that  fuel  which  is  kindling  into  a 
flame  to  torment  our  consciences  for  ever,  and  that 
under  the  powerful  influences  of  these  representa- 
tions of  sin,  we  might  fly  to  the  utmost  distance  from 
it  with  horror,  and  make  our  safe  escape! 

Reflection  2.  If  the  punishments  of  hell,  ap- 
pointed by  the  blessed  God,  carry  so  much  terror  in 
them,  how  much  mistaken  are  the  sinful  children  of 
men  in  the  ideas  which  they  form  of  the  great  and 
blessed  God?  This  representation  of  the  vengeance 
of  the  Lord  in  hell  may  be  of  use  to  refute  such  mis- 
taken opinions. 

Some  have  framed  a god  for  themselves;  not  such 
as  dwells  in  the  heavens,  not  such  as  he  has  de- 
scribed himself  in  his  word,  but  their  vain  imagina- 
tion has  raised  up  an  idol  made  of  mere  goodness  and 
mercy,  without  holiness  and  justice:  it  is  their  own 
self  love  which  forms  this  idle  and  foolish  image  of 
the  God  that  made  them,  because  they  do  not  like 
to  think  of  falling  under  the  terror  of  his  power. 
They  venture  to  affront  him  to  his  face,  they  dare 
him  to  vengeance;  and  as  the  writer  of  the  book  of 
Job  expresses  it,  “They  stretch  out  their  hands 
against  God,  they  strengthen  themselves  against  the 
Almighty;  they  run  upon  him”  with  insolence,  and 
venture  “upon  the  thick  bosses  of  his  buckler/’  Job 
xv.  25.  There  are  multitudes  in  our  day  that  are 
arrived  at  such  a dreadful  height  of  impiety,  as  to 
call  upon  him  for  the  damnation  of  themselves,  as 
well  as  of  their  friends,  in  sport  and  merriment;  they 
will  not  believe  that  the  blessed  God  will  ever  be 
found  so  severe  and  formidable  as  preachers  describe 
him ; and  “because  judgment  is  not  speedily  executed 
against  the  workers  of  iniquity,  therefore  the  sons  of 
men  have  their  hearts  set  in  them  to  do  mischief.” 
“Madness  is  in  their  hearts/’  Eccl.  viii.  11,  and  ix. 
3.  Because  God  delays  his  indignation,  they  will 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


. 344 

not  believe  he  has  any  belonging  to  him,  notwith- 
standing all  the  terrible  words  by  which  he  is  repre- 
sented by  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  the  Son  of 
God  himself:  and  while  they  rush  boldly  on  those 
crimes  which  God  has  severely  forbidden,  they  are 
ready  to  think  God  is  just  such  a one  as  themselves, 
regardless  of  virtue  and  government,  Psal.  1.  21. 
And  because  they  make  nothing  of  sin,  they  imagine 
God  will  make  nothing  of  it. 

O that  the  sons  of  men  would  once  learn  to  know 
God  better,  for  “there  are  many  who  have  not  the 
true  knowledge  of  God : I speak  it  to  their  shame,” 
when  they  fancy  he  is  all  made  up  of  gentleness  and 
forbearance,  without  holiness  and  justice!  Alas! 
sirs,  these  attributes  are  as  necessary  in  God  as  grace 
and  compassion;  he  is  and  he  must  be  a wise  and 
righteous  governor  of  the  world ; and  his  wisdom  re- 
quires that  impenitent  sinners  should  be  punished  to 
secure  the  honour  of  his  law,  and  to  guard  his  gos- 
pel from  contempt.*  These  awful  perfections  of 
the  blessed  God  are  as  necessary  to  vindicate  his  au- 
thority and  his  government  from  insult  and  rebel- 
lion, as  his  goodness  is  needful  to  encourage  sinful 
creatures  to  repent  and  return  to  their  duty.  The 
word  of  God  expressly  tells  us,  he  is  a God  of  holi- 
ness and  “a  consuming  fire,”  Heb.  xii.  29;  but  there 
is  many  a sinner  that  will  never  learn  this  lesson  till 

* A governor  made  up  of  mere  goodness  and  mercy  could  be 
no  governor  at  all;  for  it  is  absurd  to  call  that  a government, 
where  every  subject  may  do  what  iniquity  and  mischief  he  pleases 
with  impunity.  The  laws  of  such  a government  would  cease  to 
be  laws,  and  become  mere  rules  and  directions  for  living,  which 
every  one  might  observe  or  not,  just  according  to  his  inclination. 
To  say  that  it  became  the  wisdom  of  God  to  threaten  offenders, 
but  that  his  goodness  will  interpose  in  the  end,  and  hinder  the 
punishment,  is  to  say,  God  is  not  wise ; for  if  he  were,  he  would 
certainly  have  taken  care  not  to  let  those  men  into  the  secret. 
Bishop  Hort's  Sermons,  page  315. 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


345 


the  torments  of  hell  teach  it  him  by  dismal  experi- 
ence. They  have  trifled  with  his  majesty,  and 
mocked  at  his  threatenings  all  their  life,  till  at  the 
moment  of  death  he  awakes  like  a lion,  and  tears 
their  spirits  with  everlasting  anguish. 

I might  take  notice  also  in  this  place,  that  there  is 
another  mistaken  notion  of  God,  into  which  some 
persons  have  unhappily  fallen,  as  though  God  were 
the  cause  and  author  of  sin;  and  have  spoken  unad- 
visedly with  their  lips,  in  such  language  as  borders 
too  near  upon  blasphemy.  But  it  is  evident,  that  a 
God  who  will  punish  the  sins  of  men  with  such  in- 
tense pain  and  torment,  can  never  be  so  inconsis- 
tent with  himself  as  to  be  the  author  or  cause  of 
those  sins.  It  is  granted,  that  his  universal  provi- 
dence has  a concern  in  every  thing  that  is  transact- 
ed among  men;  but  since  he  has  informed  us  in 
what  a dreadful  manner  he  will  execute  his  vengeance 
against  sinners  in  the  world  to  come,  it  is  insolence 
and  indignity  against  the  blessed  God  to  represent 
him  as  introducing  sin  into  our  world.  “ Let  God 
be  true,  though  every  man  be  a liar;”  let  God  be  pure 
and  righteous,  and  holy,  though  every  man  be  found 
guilty  and  criminal;  otherwise,  how  shall  God  judge 
the  world?  How  can  he  inflict  such  torments  on  re- 
bellious creatures,  if  he  constrain  or  influence  them 
to  practise  this  rebellion?  All  opinions,  therefore, 
t hat  allow  of  such  an  inference,  as  though  God  were 
the  author  of  sin,  must  be  pronounced  false  and  per- 
nicious to  men,  as  well  as  injurious  to  the  justice  of 
God;  for  these  notions  throw  a vile  imputation  on 
the  blessed  God,  and  charge  him  with  heinous  in- 
sincerity, to  forbid  the  commission  of  sin,  by  all  these 
terrors,  and  yet  suppose  him  to  influence  men  to  the 
practice  of  them. 

Reflection  III.  How  reasonable  is  it  for  us  to 
believe,  that  such  a hell  as  I have  described,  is  pre- 
pared for  impenitent  sinners,  since  there  are  so  many 


346 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


appearances  of  the  beginnings  of  it  here  on  earth, 
so  many  indications,  and  signs  and  forerunners  of 
such  misery  and  torment  inflicted  on  sinful  men: 
survey  the  remarkable  executions  of  God’s  judgments 
on  the  world  in  several  ages  and  nations;  look  back 
to  our  first  parents,  who  were  thrust  out  of  paradise 
the  garden  of  pleasure,  and  banished  from  the  gates 
of  it  for  ever,  upon  the  account  of  the  first  sin, 
and  the  entrance  of  it  was  guarded  by  a flaming 
sword  to  forbid  their  return.  Behold  the  flood  of 
watery  vengeance  in  the  days  of  Noah  breaking  up 
from  the  vast  caverns  of  the  earth,  and  pouring  down 
from  the  windows  of  heaven  to  punish  sin:  “deep 
calls  unto  deep”  in  the  tremendous  noise  of  these 
water-spouts,  which  spread  death  and  desolation  over 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  because  all  flesh  had 
sinned  against  God  their  Creator.  Turn  your  eyes 
to  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the  cities  of  the  plain, 
suffering  the  vengeance  of  heaven  with  lightning  and 
devouring  fire  bursting  from  the  clouds  to  punish 
the  unnatural  crimes  of  that  country.  See  the  fiery 
flying  serpents,  as  the  messengers  of  divine  anger, 
to  punish  the  rebellion  of  the  Israelites  in  the  wil- 
derness: mark  what  multitudes  in  the  camp  of  Israel 
received  their  mortal  sting,  and  were  given  up  to 
destruction  and  death.  Cast  your  eyes  abroad  over 
the  nations,  and  what  records  have  we  of  all  former 
ages,  which  do  not  manifest  the  vengeance  of  God 
pursuing  the  iniquities  of  men,  by  wars  and  famines, 
and  pestilences,  and  every  thing  that  is  bitter  and 
dreadful  to  human  nature.  See  Jerusalem,  the  city 
of  God,  all  in  flames,  and  the  whole  land  of  Judea 
laid  desolate  with  deepest  distress,  diffused  and  reign- 
ing among  all  the  inhabitants  of  it:  above  a million 
of  them  were  actually  slaughtered  and  consumed  by 
famine  and  sword,  as  a sacrifice  to  the  anger  of  God, 
for  their  long  provocations  and  the  cruel  barbarous 
murder  of  his  Son  Jesus.  And  when  you  have  taken 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


347 


all  these  surveys,  then  tell  me  if  such  terrors  of  the 
Lord  do  not  give  us  sufficient  warning  what  unknown 
agonies  and  destructions  may  be  expected  by  obsti- 
nate and  impenitent  sinners  from  the  hand  of  God, 
when  the  utmost  limits  of  his  patience  restrain  his 
wrath  no  longer,  but  his  wisdom  gives  a loose  to  all 
his  fiery  indignation. 

To  enforce  this  yet  upon  your  hearts,  think  again 
of  all  the  pains  and  torments  of  flesh  and  spirit, 
which  arise  from  the  distempers  of  body,  and  from 
the  anguish  of  soul,  even  in  this  present  state  of  trial, 
this  land  of  hope,  this  season  of  divine  long-suffering. 
Go  to  the  hospitals,  where  the  gout,  and  stone,  and 
rheumatism,  and  a thousand  maladies  torture  the 
nerves  and  the  joints  of  men  with  intolerable  smart; 
and  infer  thence  what  God  will  inflict  both  on  the 
flesh  and  spirit,  or  the  soul  and  body  of  sinners,  in 
the  day  of  his  complete  vengeance,  when  his  offers 
of  mercy  and  the  years  of  his  grace  are  come  to 
their  last  period.  Go  and  survey  the  fields  of  battle 
and  slaughter,  where  thousands  of  the  dead  and  the 
dying  are  mingled  in  confused  heaps,  and  groan  out 
their  souls  in  long  anguish  and  extreme  torture,  with 
bruises  and  wounds,  and  all  the  smarting  effects  of 
the  instruments  of  war.  Now  if  all  these  things 
come  under  the  conduct  of  Divine  Providence  in  a 
sinful  world,  which  is  yet  in  a way  of  hope,  what 
may  those  resolved  and  obstinate  rebels  expect,  when 
all  the  doors  of  hope  are  shut  up  for  ever,  and  provi- 
dence has  nothing  to  do  on  earth  or  in  hell,  but  to 
execute  the  vengeance  of  God. 

Shall  we  take  one  step  yet  farther,  and  think  of  the 
inward  pangs  of  conscience,  which  some  awakened 
criminals  have  felt  in  this  life  on  the  account  of  sin, 
when  the  arrows  of  God  have  been  shot  into  their 
souls,  and  the  poison  thereof  lies  drinking  up  their 
spirits?  Think  what  dreadful  ferments  of  passion, 


348 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


and  rage,  and  hatred  of  God  have  been  found  in  the 
hearts  of  some  sinful  creatures,  when  they  have 
grown  mad  with  revenge  against  God,  and  against 
themselves,  and  envy  against  all  their  fellow-mortals 
who  are  not  in  the  same  circumstances;  think  yet 
again  how  terribly  their  misery  must  be  aggravated, 
when  the  torture  of  everlasting  despair  attends  all 
the  rest  of  the  pains  and  sorrows  they  suffer;  and 
then  say  if  the  description  of  a future  hell  in  the 
word  of  God  may  not  be  true  and  real.  What 
anguish  beyond  all  the  power  of  present  thought 
and  language,  may  seize  all  the  powers  of  wilful  and 
impious  rebels  against  the  authority  and  the  mercy 
of  God,  when  all  the  stores  of  his  vengeance  that 
have  been  treasuring  up  for  many  years,  shall  be 
poured  out  upon  them  without  any  mitigation  or 
mixture  of  mercy. 

Reflection  IV.  It  is  matter  of  surprise,  and 
great  astonishment,  that  thousands  and  ten  thousands 
of  the  sinful  children  of  men,  from  day  to  day,  and 
from  year  to  year,  are  walking  on  the  borders  of  all 
this  misery,  and  yet  are  so  thoughtless  and  uncon- 
cerned about  it.  They  carry  peaceful  and  easy 
minds  in  the  midst  of  this  dreadful  danger,  and  while 
they  have  all  the  symptoms  of  the  children  of  wrath 
upon  them,  they  live  without  fear,  and  make  no  ef- 
fort toward  their  escape.  Wretched  creatures  in- 
deed! who  have  a mortal  disease  upon  them  that 
will  breed  this  gnawing  wTorm  of  conscience,  that 
will  grow  up  into  all  this  anguish  and  distress,  and 
yet  are  senseless  of  their  own  peril,  unacquainted 
with  their  own  state  of  soul,  and  are  daily  treading 
their  earthly  rounds  of  business  and  of  pleasure  with 
a merry  heart.  All  the  heavy  artillery  of  divine 
vengeance  is  ready  to  be  discharged  upon  them  as 
soon  as  the  door  of  death  opens  and  lets  them  into 
the  invisible  world;  and  yet  they  walk  on  fearless 
and  joyful,  and  have  no  guard  or  defence  from  all 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


349 


this  misery,  besides  their  own  vain  presumption. 
Stupid  creatures,  to  lie  down  at  night,  and  awake  in 
the  morning  within  an  inch  of  hell,  and  yet  secure 
and  fearless!  They  “live  without  God  in  the  world,” 
and  that  even  in  this  land  of  light  and  hope,  where 
he  offers  to  visit  them  with  all  his  graces;  and  yet 
they  are  hasting  hourly  to  the  eternal  world,  where 
they  must  meet  and  behold  him  in  all  his  terrors. 

Will  nothing  awaken  you,  O ye  obstinate  trans- 
gressors against  God,  ye  obstinate  rejecters  of  his 
grace  and  gospel?  Will  nothing  warn  you  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come?  But  just  thus  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Noah;  the  sinners  of  that  generation 
would  not  hearken  to  that  preacher  of  righteousness; 
and  even  when  they  saw  the  clouds  of  heaven  grow 
big  and  black  over  their  heads,  and  the  rain  began 
to  be  poured  down  from  the  skies,  little  did  they 
imagine  that  it  would  have  drowned  the  earth,  till 
they  were  overwhelmed  with  the  rising  destruction. 
And  “so  shall  it  be  in  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man,” 
when  all  the  warnings  of  the  preachers  have  been 
despised,  and  the  threatened  vengeance  of  the  book 
of  God  derided,  when  they  have  set  up  for  bold  and 
witty  scoffers,  and  impudently  demanded,  “Where 
is  the  promise  of  his  coming?”  Then  shall  “the 
great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come,”  and  pour 
out  upon  them  the  full  measure  of  wrath  and  indig- 
nation. 

Is  it  not  time,  my  friends,  to  bethink  yourselves, 
whether  this  be  your  case?  Is  it  not  time  for  every 
one  ot  us  to  examine  our  souls?  Am  I exposed  to 
this  danger?  Am  I every  moment  on  the  brink  of 
this  misery,  and  yet  content  to  continue  so  one  night 
or  one  day  longer?  Can  I ever  hope  to  escape  the 
fury  of  God,  while  I thus  abuse  his  patience?  Or  can 
I have  any  expectation  of  living  with  him  as  my  God 
hereafter,  if  I never  seek  after  him  here?  The  face 
31 


350 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


of  God,  as  a stranger  in  the  world  to  come,  carries 
infinite  terrors  in  it,  and  yet  we  are  content  to  be 
strangers  to  him,  and  to  live  without  his  acquaint- 
ance. “The  wrath  of  God  abides  upon”  every  man 
who  is  unregenerate  in  this  life,  and  who  has  not 
trusted  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God,  John  iii.  36; 
yet  they  are  thoughtless  of  it,  for  they  feel  it  not; 
but  the  moment  when  they  shall  awake  into  the 
world  of  spirits,  that  wrath  will  be  felt  with  sudden 
and  dreadful  anguish,  as  a most  insupportable  bur- 
den, and  will  crush  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  into 
torment. 

Reflection  V.  It  deserves,  and  it  demands  our 
highest  gratitude  to  the  great  God,  our  humblest  ac- 
knowledgments and  our  most  exalted  praises  to  his 
majesty  and  his  mercy,  that  we,  who  have  long  ago 
deserved  this  misery,  are  not  yet  plunged  into  the 
midst  of  it;  that  we  have  not  been  entirely  cut  off 
from  the  land  of  hope,  and  sent  down  to  this  destruc 
tion.  Blessed  be  the  name  and  the  grace  of  our 
God  for  ever  and  ever. 

While  there  are  thousands  who  have  been  sent 
down  to  the  place  of  punishment,  whence  there  is  no 
redemption,  before  they  had  continued  so  long  in  sin 
as  many  of  us  have  done,  what  a peculiar  instance  is 
it  of  divine  long-suffering  and  goodness,  that  we  are 
not  actually  put  under  the  sting  of  this  living  worm, 
under  this  fiery  vengeance  from  the  hand  of  God! 
What  was  there  in  us  that  should  secure  us  from  this 
destruction,  while  we  continued  in  our  state  of  guilt, 
rebellion,  and  impenitence?  Have  we  not  seen  many 
sinners  on  our  right  hand,  and  on  our  left,  cut  off  in 
their  sins,  and  to  all  appearance  they  seem  to  be  sent 
down  to  the  place  of  sorrows?  What  is  it  but  the 
special  mercy  and  distinguishing  favour  of  God  that 
has  dealt  thus  kindly  with  us,  and  spared  and  saved 
us,  week  after  week,  and  month  after  month,  while 
we  continued  in  our  iniquities,  and  has  given  us 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


351 


space  for  repentance  and  hope  ? What  shall  we  ren- 
der to  the  Lord  for  all  his  patience  and  long-suffer- 
ing, even  to  this  day?  How  often  have  we  incurred 
the  penalty  of  the  law  of  God,  and  the  fiery  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  by  our  repeated  iniquities, 
both  against  the  authority  and  the  grace  of  God? 
And  yet  we  are  alive  in  his  presence,  and  are  hear- 
ing the  words  of  hope  and  salvation.  O let  us  look 
back  and  shudder  at  the  thoughts  of  that  dreadful 
precipice,  on  the  edge  of  which  we  have  so  long 
wandered.  Let  us  fly  for  escape  to  the  refuge  that 
is  set  before  us,  and  give  a thousand  glories  to  the 
divine  mercy  that  we  are  not  plunged  into  this  per- 
dition. 

Reflection  VI.  Let  us  learn  from  this  descrip- 
tion of  hell,  and  our  imminent  danger  of  it,  the  in- 
finite value  and  worth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ;  this 
gospel,  which  calls  us  aloud  to  fly  from  the  wrath 
to  come,  and  points  out  to  us  the  only  effectual  way 
to  escape  it.  What  can  all  the  riches  of  the  Indies 
do  to  relieve  us  under  the  guilt  and  distress  into 
which  sin  had  brought  us?  What  can  the  favour 
of  princes,  and  the  flattering  honours  of  the  world  do 
to  rescue  us  from  this  danger  ? What  can  the  high- 
est gust  of  sensuality,  and  the  most  exquisite  de- 
lights of  flesh  and  blood  do  to  secure  us  against  this 
overwhelming  misery?  It  is  only  the  gospel  of  the 
blessed  Jesus  is  our  refuge,  and  our  safety  from  the 
tremendous  destruction. 

What  are  the  heights,  and  depths,  and  lengths,  of 
human  science,  with  all  the  boasted  acquisitions  of 
the  brightest  genius  of  mankind?  Learning  and 
science  can  measure  the  globe,  can  sound  the  depths 
of  the  sea,  can  compass  the  heavens,  can  mete  out 
the  distances  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  mark  out  the 
path  of  every  twinkling  star  for  many  ages  past,  or 
ages  to  come;  but  they  cannot  acquaint  us  with  the 
way  of  salvation  from  this  long,  this  endless  distress. 


352 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE 


What  are  all  the  sublime  reasonings  of  philosophers 
upon  the  abstruse  and  most  difficult  subjects?  What 
is  the  whole  circle  of  sciences,  which  human  wit 
and  thought  can  trace  out  and  comprehend  ? Can 
they  deliver  us  from  the  guilt  of  one  sin  ? Can  they 
free  us  from  one  of  the  terrors  of  the  Almighty? 
Can  they  assuage  the  torment  of  a wounded  spirit, 
or  guard  us  from  the  impressions  of  divine  indigna- 
tion? Alas!  they  are  all  but  trifles,  in  comparison 
of  this  blessed  gospel,  which  saves  us  from  eternal 
anguish  and  death. 

It  is  the  gospel  that  teaches  us  the  holy  skill  to 
prevent  this  worm  of  conscience  from  gnawing  the 
soul,  and  instructs  how  to  kill  it  in  the  seed  and  first 
springs  of  it,  to  mortify  the  corruptions  of  the  heart, 
to  resist  the  temptations  of  Satan,  and  where  to  wash 
away  the  guilt  of  sin.  It  is  this  blessed  gospel  that 
clearly  discovers  to  us  how  we  may  guard  against 
the  fire  of  divine  wrath,  or  rather  how  to  secure  our 
souls  from  becoming  the  fuel  of  it.  It  is  this  book 
that  teaches  us  to  sprinkle  the  blood  of  Christ  on  a 
guilty  conscience  by  faith,  that  is,  by  receiving  him 
as  sincere  penitents,  and  thereby  defends  us  from  the 
angel  of  death  and  destruction.  This  is  that  experi- 
mental philosophy  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  whereby 
they  have  been  released  from  the  bonds  of  their  sins, 
have  been  rescued  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and 
been  secured  from  the  gnawing  worm  and  the  de- 
vouring fire. 

A serious  meditation  of  hell  in  its  exquisite  pain 
and  sorrow,  will  enhance  our  value  of  the  salvation 
of  Christ,  and  will  exalt  our  esteem  and  honour  of 
the  love  of  God,  who  has  delivered  us  from  eternal 
death.  If  we  will  but  appoint  our  thoughts  to  dwell 
a little  on  the  terrors  and  vengeance  from  which  the 
blessed  Jesus  has  rescued  us  by  his  glorious  un- 
dertaking, if  we  will  stretch  the  powers  of  our  souls, 
and  survey  the  lengths,  and  the  breadths,  and 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


353 


the  depths  of  this  distress  and  misery  which  we  have 
deserved,  this  will  discover  to  ns  the  heights,  and 
the  depths,  and  the  lengths  of  his  love,  who  sub- 
mitted himself  to  the  curses  of  the  law  of  God,  and 
was  made  a curse  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
to  the  possession  of  an  eternal  blessing,  Gal.  iii.  23. 
This  will  show  us  what  exceeding  riches  of  the  grace 
of  God  have  been  laid  out  upon  us  for  our  salvation. 
This  will  spread  before  us  the  unmeasurable  love  of 
Jesus,  which  has  brought  him  down  from  the  bosom 
of  his  Father  into  such  agonies  as  he  sustained  in 
the  garden,  and  on  the  cross,  that  he  might  rescue 
us  from  the  wrath  to  come.  O what  immense  and 
endless  debts  of  gratitude  and  love  are  due  from  every 
ransomed  sinner,  who  has  been  released  from  the 
bonds  of  his  guilt  and  from  all  this  wretchedness  by 
the  love  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  grace  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  glory,  and  honour,  and 
most  exalted  praise,  for  ever  and  ever.-  Amen. 


31* 


♦ 


■ 

/ - 1 ; ’ :• ’ ■ 

j ^ 

f "■ 

■ ■ ' / ' ' ’ . . /• 

" , ' . * . , • jj 


# 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 


THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE  PUNISH- 
MENTS IN  HELL. 


Mark  ix.  40. 

Where  their  worm  dieth  not , and  the  fire  is  not  quenched. 


SECTION  I. 

ARGUMENTS  TO  PROVE  THE  PERPETUITY  OF  HELL. 

When  the  great  and  blessed  God  had  a mind  to 
make  known  his  wisdom,  his  power,  and  his  good- 
ness amongst  creatures,  he  built  this  world  as  a thea- 
tre, in  which  those  perfections  of  his  nature  might 
be  displayed  amidst  the  various  works  of  his  hands: 
he  spread  it  round  with  the  blessings  of  life  and  plea- 
sure, he  overhung  it  with  a canopy  of  skies  and  stars, 
and  placed  the  glorious  bodies  of  the  sun  and  moon 
there  to  appear  in  their  alternate  seasons;  and  even 
amidst  the  ruins  which  sin  has  brought  into  this 
world,  yet  still  every  eye  may  behold  the  traces  of 
an  almighty,  an  all-wise,  and  a bountiful  God. 

When  the  same  divine  and  sovereign  Being  de- 
signed to  exalt  and  diffuse  the  wonders  of  his  grace 
among  the  best  of  his  creatures,  he  built  a heaven 


356  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OP  THE 

for  them,  and  furnished  it  with  unknown  varieties 
of  beauty  and  blessing;  and  we  would  hope  in  our 
appointed  season  to  be  raised  to  this  upper  world, 
and  there  to  behold  the  riches  of  divine  magnificence 
and  mercy,  and  to  be  sharers  thereof  among  the  rest 
of  the  happy  inhabitants. 

But  since  sin  and  wickedness  have  entered  into 
his  creation  of  men  and  angels,  he  saw  it  necessary 
also  to  display  the  terrors  of  his  justice,  and  to  make 
his  wrath  and  indignation  known  amongst  rebellious 
creatures,  that  he  might  maintain  a just  awe  and  re- 
verence for  his  own  authority,  and  a constant  hatred 
of  sin  through  all  his  dominions.  For  this  purpose 
he  has  built  a hell,  a dreadful  building  indeed,  in 
some  dismal  region  of  his  vast  empire,  where  he  has 
amassed  together  all  that  is  grievous  and  formidable 
to  sensible  beings,  and  wicked  spirits  carry  their  own 
inward  hell  thither  with  them,  a hell  of  sin  and  mise- 
ry; and  though  he  has  sent  his  own  Son  to  acquaint 
us  with  the  distresses  and  agonies  of  that  doleful 
world,  and  to  warn  us  of  the  danger  of  falling  into 
it,  yet  if  any  of  us  should  be  so  unhappy  as  to  con- 
tinue in  an  obstinate  state  of  impenitence  and  dis- 
obedience to  God,  we  shall  be  made  to  confess,  by 
dreadful  experience,  that  not  one  half  hath  been 
told  us. 

Therefore  hath  God  set  before  us  these  terrors  in 
his  word,  that  we  might  fly  from  this  wrath  to  come, 
and  avoid  these  sufferings;  and  therefore  do  his  mi- 
nisters, by  his  commission,  proceed  to  publish  this 
vengeance  and  indignation  of  the  Lord,  that  sinners 
might  be  awakened  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  that  is 
set  before  them,  and  might  be  affrighted  from  plung- 
ing themselves  into  this  pit  of  anguish,  whence  there 
is  no  redemption. 

We  have  taken  a short  survey  of  these  miseries 
in  the  kind  and  nature  of  them,  in  some  former  dis- 
courses; and  we  are  now  come  to  the  last  thing 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


357 


contained  in  our  Saviour’s  description  of  hell,  and 
that  is  the  perpetuity  of  it;  the  misery  is  everlasting 
in  both  the  parts  of  it,  for  “ the  worm  dieth  not,  and 
the  fire  is  not  quenched.”  The  arguments  which 
shall  be  employed  to  prove  it  are  such  as  these: — 

Argument  I.  The  express  words  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles  pronounce  these  punishments  eternal; 
and  surely  these  words  are  given  to  us  to  be  the 
foundation  of  our  faith  and  practice,  and  the  rules  of 
our  hope  and  fear.  My  text  seems  to  carry  plain 
and  unanswerable  evidence  in  it.  “ The  worm  dieth 
not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.”  And  it  is  many 
times  repeated  in  this  chapter,  and  that  with  a spe- 
cial accent  on  the  eternal  duration  of  it,  to  make  that 
circumstance  of  it  more  observed  and  to  aggravate 
the  terror.  Such  an  awful  repetition  from  the  lips 
of  the  Son  of  God  should  make  the  sound  of  the  ven- 
geance dwell  longer  on  the  ear,  and  the  threatening 
sink  deeper  into  the  soul. 

Let  us  next  observe  the  final  sentence  which 
Christ,  as  Judge,  pronounces  against  impenitent  sin- 
ners among  the  sons  of  men,  as  well  as  against  fallen 
spirits,  in  Mat.  xxv.  It  is  this:  “ Depart,  ye  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels:”  and  as  soon  as  the  sentence  is  pronounced, 
it  is  immediately  executed,  as  our  Saviour  foretells 
in  the  last  verse:  “These  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life  eter- 
nal.” What  he  pronounces  as  a judge,  he  foretells 
also  as  a prophet  that  it  shall  be  put  in  execu- 
tion. 

The  express  word  of  God,  in  describing  the  pu- 
nishment of  sinners  by  the  pen  of  his  two  apostles 
Paul  and  John,  declares  the  same  thing,  2 Thess.  i. 
9:  “They  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  de- 
struction from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.”  And  the 
book  of  the  Revelation  gives  us  assurance,  that  these 


358  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

miseries  shall  have  no  end.  Rev.  xiv.  10,  11  : the 
Antichristian  idolaters,  ‘‘who  worship  the  beast, 
shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which 
is  poured  out,  without  mixture,  into  the  cup  of  his 
indignation,  and  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and 
brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb,  and  the 
smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for  ever  and 
ever.”  Jude  the  apostle  bears  his  testimony  in  the 
same  manner,  ver.  6,  the  damned  spirits,  who  kept 
not  their  first  estate,  are  said  to  be  “ cast  down  into 
hell,  and  bound  in  chains  of  everlasting  darkness.” 
Now  suppose  a man  plunged  into  a pit  of  thick  dark- 
ness, by  the  command  of  God,  and  bound  there  with 
everlasting  chains;  what  hope  can  he  ever  have  of 
deliverance? 

And  if  Christ  and  his  apostles,  who  were  taught 
by  him  and  by  his  blessed  Spirit,  assert  this  punish- 
ment shall  be  eternal,  who  shall  dare  to  contradict 
them?  Who  is  there  so  rash  and  confident  as  to  say, 
“This  torment  shall  not  be  everlasting,  this  worm 
one  day  shall  die,  and  this  fire  shall  be  quenched?” 
Does  it  not  approach  to  the  crime  of  contradicting 
the  Almighty,  and  the  true  God  ? 

Argument  II.  There  is  a sort  of  infinite  evil  in 
sin,  arising  from  the  consideration  of  the  person 
against  whom  it  is  committed,  that  is,  the  great  and 
blessed  God ; for  every  crime,  according  to  the  law 
of  nations,  and  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  takes 
its  aggravation  from  the  dignity  of  the  person  offend- 
ed, as  well  as  from  the  heinousness  of  the  act,  so 
reproaches  or  assaults  against  a king,  or  a father, 
are  much  more  criminal  and  heinous  than  the  same 
assaults  or  reproaches  cast  on  an  equal  or  an  inferior; 
but  all  sin  being  an  offence  against  God,  an  infinite 
object,  and  a violation  of  his  law,  is  a dishonour  of 
infinite  majesty,  an  affront  to  the  divine  authority, 
and  therefore  its  aggravations  arise  in  that  proportion 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


359 


to  a sort  of  infinity,  and  require  an  equal  punishment. 
But  because  the  nature  of  a creature  cannot  suffer 
infinite  punishment  in  the  intenseness  of  the  pain, 
therefore  he  must  bear  it  to  an  infinite  duration,  that 
is,  to  all  everlasting. 

When  divine  justice  pronounces  a sentence  against 
the  sinner  equal  to  the  demerit  of  sin,  it  must  be  in- 
finite, that  is,  eternal ; and  the  sinner  shall  never  be 
released  from  the  prison  and  the  punishment  till  he 
has  paid  the  utmost  farthing,  Matt.  ix.  25,  and  till 
he  has  made  satisfaction  to  God  equal  to  his  demands 
and  the  demerit  of  the  offence. 

I know  this  argument  is  treated  with  much  con- 
tempt and  derision  among  those  of  the  moderns,  who 
would  diminish  the  evil  of  sin,  and  shorten  the  pu- 
nishment of  it;  but  it  is  much  easier  to  ridicule  it  than 
to  answer  it : a jest  is  no  refutation.  And  after  my 
best  survey  of  it,  I think,  without  prejudice  or  par- 
tiality, the  force  of  it  seems  to  me  unanswerable  as 
to  the  desert  of  sin ; and  I am  not  ashamed  to  employ 
it  in  the  support  of  this  truth. 

It  is  but  a very  feeble  opposition  can  be  made  to 
it  by  those  who  say,  that  if  sin  be  counted  an  infinite 
evil,  and  must  have  infinite  punishment,  then  all 
sins  are  equal,  and  will  require  equal  punishment, 
for  there  are  no  different  degrees  in  infinity,  or  in 
things  which  are  infinite. 

But  our  Saviour  has  taught  us,  that  there  are 
certainly  various  degrees  of  punishment  as  well  as 
of  sin;  he  assures  us,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable 
for  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  than  it  shall  be  for  Capernaum  and 
Bethsaida,  where  he  had  preached  and  wrought  his 
wonders,  Luke  x.  12,  &c.;  and  the  reason  is  plain, 
namely,  because  the  sins  of  Sodom  were  less  than 
theirs. 

And  it  is  very  easy  to  answer  this  pretence  or  ob- 
jection about  the  equality  of  all  sins,  for  sins  may 


360  TIIE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

have  different  degrees  of  guilt  and  aggravation  as  to 
the  act,  where  the  object  is  the  same,  whether  this 
object  be  finite  or  infinite;  as  the  murder  of  a father 
or  a king  is  a much  greater  crime  than  a reproach 
or  slander  cast  on  the  same  persons.  So  the  wilful 
hatred  of  God  and  blasphemy  against  him,  with  con- 
tinued malice  and  public  violent  opposition  to  his 
name,  or  law,  or  gospel,  are  far  greater  sins  than  a 
single  neglect  of  his  daily  worship  for  fear  of  per- 
secution, or  a distrusting  his  providence,  though  both 
have  the  same  infinite  Being,  that  is,  God,  for  their 
object;  and  in  this  sense  there  is  a sort  of  infinity  in 
each  of  the  crimes. 

And,  accordingly,  punishments  may  be  propor- 
tioned to  every  crime  ; for  they  may  differ  greatly  in 
the  degree  of  severity  and  torture,  though  they  may 
be  all  equal  or  eternal  in  the  duration.  Sodom  and 
Gomorrha,  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida,  may  all  suf- 
fer infinite  or  everlasting  sorrow,  and  yet  the  de- 
grees of  their  pain  may  be  exceedingly  different  all 
the  while.  They  may  have  the  same  infinity  of 
duration,  though  very  different  as  to  the  intenseness 
or  degree  of  the  pain. 

Argument  III.  If  the  iniquities  committed  in 
this  life  were  not  punished  with  torment  which  is 
everlasting,  yet  the  damned  in  hell  are  ever  sinning 
against  God,  and  therefore  they  provoke  the  ven- 
geance of  God  to  continue  his  punishing  hand  upon 
them  for  ever.  The  law  of  God  in  all  its  demands 
of  duty,  its  prohibitions  of  sin,  as  well  as  in  its  sanc- 
tions of  punishment,  continues  for  ever  in  force  in 
heaven,  and  earth,  and  hell,  and  we  see  not  how  it 
can  be  abrogated,  where  it  arises  from  the  very  nature 
of  Gqd  and  a creature:  and  “cursed  is  every  one  that 
continues  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the 
law,”  Gal.  iii.  Every  new  sin  demands  a new 
curse  and  a new  punishment,  and  there  is  no  reason 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


36  L 


which  forbids  a righteous  governor  to  cease  punish- 
ing, while  the  rebellious  creature  will  not  cease  to 
offend,  and  especially  while  he  maintains  an  ever- 
lasting enmity  and  rebellion  against  the  law  of  God 
his  creator. 

If  there  were  any  humble  meltings  of  repentance 
in  the  guilty  soul,  if  there  were  any  sincere  mourn- 
ings in  the  sinful  creature  for  having  offended  his 
Maker,  if  there  were  any  softness  of  heart  relenting 
under  a sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and  returning  to  obe- 
dience and  duty,  even  this  would  not  oblige  a righ- 
teous and  wise  governor  to  forgive  the  criminal : re- 
pentance is  no  compensation  for  a wilful  offence;  nor 
is  it  thought  unrighteous  or  unwise  for  a prince  to 
punish  even  a penitent  offender  with  death. 

But  let  us  propose  the  case  in  utmost  favour  to  a 
sinner  against  the  blessed  God,  let  us  imagine  that 
divine  wisdom  and  divine  mercy  perhaps  might  be 
supposed  to  contrive  and  to  offer  some  proposals  to 
justice  in  a way  of  compassion,  and  might  inquire 
whether  the  sentence  of  punishment  could  not  be  re- 
versed, or  the  terror  of  it  relieved,  or  some  new  state 
of  trial  proposed.  Let  it  be  added  in  favour  of  the 
criminal,  that  we  do  not  find  through  all  the  book  of 
God  the  actual  practice  of  true  repentance  beginning 
among  men,  but  it  has  been  always  followed  with 
proportionable  degrees  of  compassion  from  God; 
but,  on  the  other  side,  when  there  is  nothing  found 
in  the  heart  of  a sinner  but  obstinacy,  and  malice, 
and  revenge,  cursing,  and  blasphemy  against  the 
Almighty  without  the  least  moving  or  melting  into  a 
genuine  penitence  or  holy  sorrow,  without  any  meek 
submission  to  the  majesty  and  justice  of  God,  or  hum- 
ble imploring  his  mercy,  what  reasonable  hope  can 
such  wretches  have,  that  their  chains  of  darkness 
should  be  broken,  and  the  prisoners  released  from 
the  vengeance?  When  they  shall  curse  his  justice, 
because  it  punishes  their  crimes,  when  they  shall 
32 


362  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

curse  his  mercy,  because  it  did  not  save  their  souls, 
and  curse  and  blaspheme  the  blood  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  because  it  has  not  washed  away  their  sins, 
what  possible  excuse  can  be  made  for  such  creatures? 
Or  what  possible  expectation  can  there  be  for  such 
criminals,  but  an  everlasting  continuance  of  the 
fiery  indignation? 

Here  it  will  be  replied,  But  why  should  we  sup- 
pose, and  much  more,  why  should  we  affirm,  the 
damned  will  never  repent?  Are  they  not  free  in  the 
other  world  from  this  flesh  and  blood,  wherein  there 
are  so  many  unruly  passions  and  appetites?  Are 
they  not  far  remote  from  all  the  temptations  of  flesh 
and  sense,  of  intemperance,  ambition,  and  covetous- 
ness? Have  they  not  understanding  to  see  divine 
truths  more  clearly,  than  in  this  world?  Have  they 
not  reason  to  distinguish  good  and  evil,  and  free  will 
to  choose  that  which  is  good?  Will  they  not  hate  all 
sin,  since  they  have  been  so  long  taught  the  mischief 
of  sin  by  their  sufferings?  And  is  there  any  thing 
fitter  than  their  agonies  and  torture  by  fire,  to  make 
men  know  and  feel  the  dreadful  evil  of  sinning  against 
God,  and  awaken  them  to  repentance? 

To  this  I answer,  Let  us  judge  a little  concerning 
the  sinners  in  hell,  by  the  practice  of  sinners  on 
earth.  How  many  wretched  creatures  are  there 
who  have  been  long  imprisoned,  and  perhaps  pu- 
nished for  crimes  against  the  state,  and  yet  persist  in 
their  rebellious  temper,  and  are  never  convinced 
they  were  in  the  wrong,  so  far  as  to  change  their 
treason  into  sincere  submission,  repentance,  and 
obedience?  Was  not  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  an 
instance  of  the  stubbornness  and  impenitence  of 
human  nature,  when,  in  opposition  to  ten  dreadful 
plagues,  he  would  still  pursue  the  flying  Israelites, 
and  destroy  a people  beloved  of  God?  Is  not  hard- 
ness and  enmity  against  the  governor  often  increased 
by  the  severe  punishments  that  criminals  lie  under? 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL.  363 

Have  these  punishments  any  sufficient  power  to 
soften  their  hearts  into  true  repentance? 

What  though  they  do  not  live  in  the  midst  of 
sensual  temptations,  yet  who  knows  how  far  their 
spirits  having  been  immersed  in  flesh  and  blood,  may 
carry  with  them  inward  raging  appetites  to  those 
sinful  sensualities  and  defiling  pleasures,  of  which 
they  are  for  ever  deprived? 

Let  me  ask  again,  Have  the  devils  ever  repented 
in  almost  six  thousand  years?  Are  they  not  the 
same  enemies  to  God,  and  his  glory,  and  his  image, 
through  all  ages?  And  though  the  damned  spirits  of 
men  are  absent  from  this  world  and  their  evil  com- 
panions on  earth,  yet  are  they  not  in  the  fittest  com- 
pany to  teach  them  pride,  and  rage,  resentment,  and 
malice,  and  the  most  unfit  to  teach  them  humility, 
repentance  and  obedience  to  God?  And  when  they 
have  perversely  sinned  away  all  the  means  of  grace, 
in  this  life,  is  it  reasonable  to  imagine,  that  God  will 
powerfully  soften  their  hearts  by  his  sovereign  grace, 
since  he  has  never  given  the  least  hint  or  instance  of 
it  in  all  the  discoveries  made  in  the  Bible?  And 
has  it  not  been  often  one  way  of  God’s  punishing 
sinners  here  in  this  world  by  letting  them  go  on  in 
their  iniquity  and  madness  to  the  end?  And  why 
may  not  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  God  see  it  fit  to 
treat  sinners  who  have  been  incorrigible  in  this  life, 
by  the  same  method  in  the  world  to  come? 

Argument  IV.  The  natural  effects  and  conse- 
quences of  sin  living  in  the  soul,  are  misery  and  tor- 
ment so  long  as  the  soul  lives,  that  is,  for  ever.  Sin, 
though  it  be  a moral  evil,  as  it  is  committed  against 
God,  yet  it  is  such  an  enemy  to  the  nature  of  man, 
that  where  it  has  established  its  habit  and  temper  in 
the  soul,  it  naturally  prepares  constant  anguish  of 
conscience  and  certain  misery.  A wicked  spirit  all 
over  averse  to  God  and  goodness,  gone  from  this 


364  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

world,  and  all  the  soothing  or  busy  amusements  of 
it,  intense  in  its  desires  of  happiness,  and  yet  a 
stranger  to  all  that  can  make  it  truly  happy,  and  at 
the  same  time  shut  out  by  God’s  righteous  judgment, 
from  all  the  means  and  hopes  of  grace,  must  needs 
be  miserable,  and  has  prepared  a state  of  endless 
misery  for  itself,  because  its  nature  and  duration  are 
immortal.  An  unholy  creature  who  loves  not  God, 
and  cannot  delight  in  things  holy  and  heavenly,  but 
derives  its  chief  joy  from  sinful  pleasures,  can  never 
taste  of  felicity,  can  never  relish  the  satisfactions  that 
come  from  the  knowledge,  and  love,  and  enjoyment 
of  God;  and  when  it  is  torn  away,  and  banished  from 
all  the  sensible  amusements  of  this  life,  it  must  and 
will  be  a wretched  creature  in  the  world  of  spirits, 
and  that  by  the  very  course  of  nature:  and  God  can- 
not be  obliged  to  change  the  established  course  of 
nature  to  relieve  this  misery  which  the  sinner  had 
wilfully  brought  on  himself;  nor  can  God  make  him 
happy  without  giving  him  a new  temper  of  holiness, 
which  he  is  not  obliged  to  do  by  any  perfection  of 
his  nature,  or  any  promise  of  grace. 

If  the  souls  of  men  are  immortal,  such  will  their 
passions  be,  their  desires,  their  fears,  and  their  sor- 
rows. Now  their  natural  desires  of  happiness,  as  I 
have  said,  will  be  intense  and  strong,  when  God  the 
spring  of  all  happiness,  who  hath  been  renounced 
and  abandoned  by  them,  hath  now  for  ever  forsaken 
them,  and  separated  himself  from  them.  What  can 
there  remain  for  them  but  everlasting  darkness  and 
despair,  without  a dawn  of  hope  through  all  the  ages 
of  eternity?  Their  guilty  consciences,  with  the 
views  of  God’s  unchangeable  holiness,  will  for  ever 
fill  them  with  new  fears  and  terrors,  what  shall  be 
the  next  punishment  they  are  to  suffer.  Such  is  the 
state  of  devils  at  this  time,  who  expect  a more 
dreadful  punishment  at  the  great  day,  as  several 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


365 


places  of  scripture  make  evident.  Their  being  im- 
mersed in  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  under  the  constant  and 
tyrannical  dominion  of  it,  will  overwhelm  them  with 
present  grief,  with  cutting  sorrows,  and  horror  un- 
speakable, which  will  sink  into  the  centre  of  their 
souls,  and  make  them  an  eternal  terror  and  plague  to 
themselves. 

Again,  let  us  consider  their  immortality  of  soul 
will  be  spent  in  thinking;  and  what  comfortable  or 
hopeful  object  is  there  in  heaven,  earth,  or  hell,  on 
which  they  can  fix  or  employ  their  thoughts  for  one 
moment,  to  give  a short  release  from  their  extreme 
misery?  So  that  they  are  left  in  endless  successions 
of  most  painful  thoughts  and  passions  from  the  very 
nature  of  things. 

Again,  suppose  this  body  of  mine  were  by  nature 
immortal,  and  was  designed  by  my  Creator  in  its 
constitution  to  live  for  ever;  and  suppose  by  my  own 
folly  and  madness,  my  own  wilful  indulgence  of  ap- 
petite and  passion,  I had  brought  some  dreadful  dis- 
temper into  my  flesh  which  was  found  to  be  incura- 
ble, whether  it  be  the  gout  or  the  stone,  or  some 
more  terrible  malady  of  the  nervous  kind,  must  not 
this  gout,  by  necessity  of  nature,  become  an  immortal 
gout?  Must  not  these  distempers  be  immortal  dis- 
tempers, and  create  eternal  pain?  And  is  the  God 
of  nature  bound  to  work  a miracle  to  cure  and  heal 
these  diseases  which  I have  wilfully  brought  upon 
myself  by  my  own  iniquities,  and  that  after  many 
warnings?  Is  it  unrighteous  in  God  to  tfct  me  lan- 
guish on  amidst  my  agonies  and  groans  as  long  as 
my  nature  continues  in  being,  that  is,  to  immortality? 
And  especially  when  there  are  valuable  ends  in  divine 
providence,  and  God’s  government  of  the  world  to  be 
subserved,  by  suffering  such  wilful,  rebellious,  and 
impenitent  creatures  to  become  sacrifices  to  their 
own  iniquity  and  his  justice,  and  perpetual  monu- 
ments to  other  worlds  of  their  own  madness  and  his 

32* 


366  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

holiness.  Such  is  the  case  of  a sinful  spirit,  and 
therefore  a God  of  justice  may  pronounce  upon  it, 
and  execute  the  eternal  misery. 

SECTION  II. 

THE  STRONGEST  AND  MOST  PLAUSIBLE  OBJECTIONS  AGAINST 
THE  PERPETUITY  OF  HELL  ANSWERED. 

I think  these  reasons,  which  have  been  given,  are 
sufficient  to  justify  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  repre- 
senting the  punishments  of  hell  as  everlasting;  but 
man,  sinful  man,  does  not  love  to  hear  of  this  dread- 
ful perpetuity  of  hell;  they  would  fain  find  some 
period  to  these  sorrows;  they  search  on  every  side 
if  there  be  no  way  for  escape  from  this  prison,  no 
door  of  mercy,  no  cranny  of  hope  left  among  the 
reasons  of  things,  or  among  the  attributes,  or  the 
transactions  of  the  blessed  God;  and  they  are  ever- 
proposing  some  methods  to  cut  short  this  eternity, 
which  scripture  ascribes  to  the  punishment  of  impe- 
nitent sinners.  I shall  endeavour  therefore  here  to 
give  a fair  and  plain  answer  to  the  strongest  objections 
against  this  doctrine  with  which  I ever  yet  have  mei. 

The  first  objection  is  raised  from  a criticism  on 
the  words  of  scripture.  The  Greek  and  Hebrew 
words,  say  they,  which  we  translate  eternal  and  ever- 
lasting, where  the  torments  of  hell  are  mentioned, 
are  not  always  used  for  proper  and  complete  eternity; 
they  sometimes  signify  only  a long  duration:  so 
God  gave  Abraham  and  his  seed  the  land  of  Canaan 
for  an  everlasting  possession,  Gen.  xvii.  8,  but  now 
the  Turks  possess  it.  Several  of  the  statutes  of  the 
Levitical  law  were  said  to  be  everlasting,  Lev.  xvi. 
34.  But  they  are  all  abolished  in  the  gospel.  The 
sons  of  Aaron  had  an  everlasting  priesthood  con- 
ferred upon  them,  Exod.  xl.  15.  But  this  office  is 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


367 


cancelled  by  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  and  finished 
for  ever. 

Besides,  let  it  be  remembered,  say  the  objectors, 
that  the  Hebrew  word  olam,  and  the  Greek  aion 
and  aiones  signify  only  the  various  ages  or  periods 
of  time  which  belong  to  the  duration  of  creatures,  or 
to  some  constitutions  of  God  concerning  his  crea- 
tures: and  they  should  be  translated  an  age,  or  ages, 
more  properly  than  any  thing  else  : and  the  adjec- 
tive aionios,  when  applied  to  creatures,  can  re- 
late only  to  these  ages;  but  these  expressions  were 
never  designed  to  enter  into  God’s  own  eternity, 
either  before  the  existence  of  this  world,  or  after 
the  consummation  of  it;  upon  which  reason  it  is 
highly  improper  and  absurd  to  assert,  that  the  du- 
ration or  punishment  of  creatures  in  hell  shall  be 
properly  eternal  and  equal  to  the  duration  of  the 
blessed  God  himself.  Now  since  every  thing  in 
God’s  transactions  towards  creatures  is  sometimes 
limited  by  these  aiones  or  ages,  which  are  periods 
of  time  that  shall  be  finished,  why  may  not  the 
damnation  and  the  sorrows  of  hell  be  also  finished 
and  cancelled  at  a certain  length  of  years,  though 
the  common  words,  which  we  translate  eternal  and 
everlasting,  be  ascribed  to  them  in  scripture? 

Answer  1.  These  are  the  same  words  both  in 
Greek  and  Hebrew,  by  which  God  expresses  his  own 
eternity,  which  is  absolute  and  complete  without  end. 
He  is  the  everlasting  God,  Gen.  xxi.  33.  The  eter- 
nal God,  and  his  everlasting  arms,  Deut.  xxxiii.  27, 
Rom.  i.  20,  and  xvi.  26,  and  several  other  places. 
These  are  the  words  also  by  which  the  scripture 
expresses  the  duration  of  the  felicities  of  heaven, 
and  the  eternal  life  and  happiness  of  the  saints,  Dan. 
xii.  2,  Rom.  vi.  23,  John  iii.  15,  &c.  Now  why 
should  we  not  suppose  the  same  words  to  signify  the 
same  duration,  when  the  Old  or  New  Testament 


368  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

speaks  of  everlasting  burnings  as  the  vengeance  of 
God  against  the  wicked,  Isa.xxxiii.  14;  or  “everlast- 
ing shame  and  contempt?”  Dan.  xii.  2.  And  espe- 
cially where  the  joys  of  the  saints,  and  the  misery  of 
sinners,  are  set  in  opposition  to  one  another  in  the 
same  text,  as  in  Dan.  xii.  and  Matt.  xxvi.  45;  “The 
wicked  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment, 
and  the  righteous  into  life  eternal.”  And  yet 
farther,  when  we  find  this  doctrine  sufficiently  con- 
firmed by  many  other  places  of  scripture  which  set 
forth  the  eternity  of  these  torments?  I grant,  that 
the  eternity  of  God  himself,  before  this  world  began 
or  after  its  consummation,  has  something  in  it  so 
immense  and  so  incomprehensible,  that  in  my  most 
mature  thoughts  I do  not  choose  to  enter  into  those 
infinite  abysses;  nor  do  I think  we  ought  usually, 
when  we  speak  concerning  creatures,  to  affirm  po- 
sitively, that  their  existence  shall  be  equal  to  that  of 
the  blessed  God,  especially  with  regard  to  the  dura- 
tion of  their  punishment.  Perhaps  this  sort  of  lan- 
guage may  carry  in  it  something  beyond  what  we 
are  called  to  discourse  about,  at  least  in  this  mortal 
state,  and  therefore  such  comparisons  are  more  safely 
omitted. 

But  I would  remark  here  still,  that  these  aiones 
or  ages  both  of  reward  and  punishment,  which  are 
pronounced  concerning  saints  or  sinners,  begin  in 
their  perfection  only  at  the  end  of  this  world : and 
thence  it  follows,  that  they  must  enter  far  into  the 
eternity  of  God’s  existence  yet  to  come:  and  the  saints 
will  be  made  happy,  and  the  sinners  will  be  punished 
for  long  ages  after  the  end  of  this  world,  and  all  the 
aiones  or  ages  of  it. 

And  though  God,  by  his  Spirit,  has  not  been 
pleased  to  make  this  comparison  expressly  nor  assert 
our  duration  commensurate  with  his  own,  yet  he  is 
pleased  to  express  the  duration  of  the  punishment 
of  sinners  in  the  same  common  language  and 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL- 


369 


phrases,  by  which  he  expresses  his  own  duration,  and 
the  happiness  of  the  saints;  and  hereby  he  encou- 
rages us  to  express  these  punishments  by  the  same 
common  words  in  our  language  too,  rather  than  ven- 
ture to  cut  them  short  by  a Greek  or  Hebrew  criti- 
cism, without  any  divine  warrant  or  necessity.* 

Now  are  there  any  sinners  so  void  of  understand- 
ing, of  so  daring  and  desperate  a mind,  as  to  venture 
their  eternal  all  upon  such  a poor  criticism  of  words? 
Even  upon  supposition  these  terms  in  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  might  signify  any  long  duration  short  of 
eternity;  yet  there  is  a terrible  hazard  in  confining 
them  to  this  sense,  since  they  do  denote  a pro- 
per eternity,  when  they  describe  the  duration  of  the 
blessed  God;  and  I think  we  may  add  also,  the  du- 
ration of  the  happiness  of  the  saints. 

Besides  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  other  ex- 
pressions of  scripture,  which  denote  and  pronounce 
the  perpetuity  or  eternity  of  these  punishments,  are 
not  liable  to  the  same  criticism  or  ambiguity  of  a 
word.  Their  fire  shall  be  unquenchable,  or  is  not 
quenched,  their  worm  dieth  not.  “They  have  no 
rest  day  nor  night;  they  shall  be  tormented  day  and 
night  for  ever  and  ever,”  Rev.  xiv.  20.  These  ex- 
pressions seem  to  carry  with  them  a more  certain 
signification  of  the  perpetual  continuance  of  the  pu- 
nishment. Now  can  the  tempter  and  the  deceiver 
of  souls  have  so  unhappy  an  influence  over  you,  as 
to  persuade  you  to  venture  onward  in  the  paths  of 

* The  word  aiclios , perpetual,  is  also  applied  to  the  chains 
of  devils,  Jude  6,  as  well  as  to  God,  Rom.  i.,  and,  however  the 
word  aion  and  uiones  may  be  used  for  ages  or  periods  in  this 
world,  yet  aiones  ton  aionon , or  ages  of  ages,  is  never  applied 
in  all  the  New  Testament  to  any  thing  but  God  or  Christ,  or  the 
blessedness  of  saints,  or  the  punishment  of  sinners;  and  therefore 
we  may  well  conclude,  that  all  these  four  run  into  an  eternity 
beyond  all  the  supposed  periods  of  this  world,  and  far  beyond  all 
our  conceptions. 


370 


THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 


sin,  to  put  off  religion  and  delay  your  repentance, 
and  neglect  the  means  of  salvation,  in  hopes  that 
hereafter  this  weak  criticism,  upon  some  of  the 
threatenings,  may  take  place  before  the  Judge  of 
the  whole  earth,  and  thus  excuse  or  save  you?  Is 
not  such  a sorry  refuge  and  presumption  a dangerous 
and  a dismal  sign  upon  impenitent  sinners,  that  sin 
and  Satan  have  darkened  your  understanding  and 
confounded  your  judgment,  as  well  as  hardened  your 
hearts,  in  order  to  your  everlasting  destruction? 

Answer  2.  Suppose  the  punishments  of  hell  con- 
tinue only  for  a long  time,  and  not  for  an  endless  im- 
mortality, yet  this  time  would  certainly  be  found  ex- 
ceedingly long  for  sinners  to  bear  the  torment,  even 
according  to  their  own  criticisms.  Let  us  consider 
this  matter  under  some  particulars.  The  Jewish 
dispensation,  which  is  sometimes  called  everlasting, 
stood  near  about  fifteen  hundred  years,  from  Moses 
to  Christ;  and  are  ye  content  to  languish  and  groan 
under  torments  and  miseries,  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  merely  to  satisfy  your  vicious  appetite  of 
pleasure  for  a few  days  or  a few  years  of  this  mortal 
life? 

Again,  the  rebellious  sinners,  who  were  destroyed 
at  the  flood,  and  their  spirits,  which  were  sent  into 
the  prison  of  Hades,  or  hell,  were  certainly  confined 
there  four  and  twenty  hundred  years;  and  if  they 
were  released  then,  as  some  imagine,  by  the  preaching 
of  Christ  to  them,  it  is  a long  and  dreadful  time  to 
continue  under  the  vengeance  of  God ; and  is  it  worth 
while  for  any  man  to  continue  in  sin  on  earth,  and 
to  venture  this  length  of  punishment  in  hell? 

What  I build  this  computation  upon,  are  some 
expressions  of  St.  Peter,  1 Pet.  iii.  19,  20;  where 
Christ  is  said  to  “preach  unto  the  spirits  in  prison, 
which  some  time  were  disobedient,  when  once  the 
long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah;” 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


371 


some  have  supposed,  that  this  text  informs  us  of 
Christ’s  descent  into  hell  after  his  death,  and  then 
preaching  to  those  rebels  who  were  drowned  in  the 
flood,  near  two  thousand  four  hundred  years  before, 
in  order  to  awaken  them  to  repentance  and  salvation : 
whereas  others  think  this  text  may  be  better  ex- 
pounded concerning  the  spirit  of  Christ  given  to 
Noah,  which  made  him  a preacher  of  righteousness, 
when  he  foretold  and  threatened  a flood  of  waters, 
and  called  men  to  repentance. 

But  if  it  should  be  granted,  that  those  rebellious 
spirits  among  the  dead  did  all  repent,  and  were  de- 
livered by  this  preaching  of  Christ,  would  you  choose 
to  indulge  the  delights  of  sin  for  a short  season,  and 
venture  twenty-four  hundred  years  of  torment  and 
anguish  for  it? 

Yet  farther,  the  devils  have  lain  under  punishment 
nearly  six  thousand  years,  namely,  four  thousand  be- 
fore Christ  came,  and  almost  two  thousand  years 
since,  which  may  be  thus  computed  from  what  St. 
J ude  says  of  them.  “ The  angels  who  kept  not  their 
first  estate,  were  cast  into  chains  of  darkness/’  pro- 
bably before  the  creation  of  this  our  world,  for  they 
were  fallen,  and  tempted  Adam  to  sin  as  soon  as  this 
world  was  made : and  they  had  been  confined  in  these 
chains  from  that  time  about  four  thousand  years  be- 
fore Christ  came,  and  are  waiting  still  for  yet  sharper 
punishment  at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day;  Jude 
6;  and  it  is  evident  that  they  are  conscious  of  this 
terror  and  this  future  increase  of  punishment,  for 
they  expostulated  with  our  Saviour,  Matt.  viii.  29 : 
“ Art  thou  come  to  torment  us  before  the  time?5’  Now 
it  is  nearly  two  thousand  years  since  Christ  came, 
and  from  the  time  of  their  sinning,  to  this  day,  it  is 
almost  six  thousand  years:  and  when  the  great  day 
of  judgment  comes,  their  fiercer  punishment  is  but 
then  to  begin : and  are  not  the  devil  and  his  angels 
sentenced  and  confined  to  dwell  together  with  the 


372  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

wicked  children  of  Adam,  when  they  shall  be  con- 
signed at  that  dreadful  day  to  the  same  everlasting 
fire  and  torment,  which  was  prepared  for  those  evil 
spirits?  And  who  knows  when  their  torment  will 
end?  Now  what  folly  and  hardness  of  heart,  or  ra- 
ther what  madness  is  it  for  men  to  continue  in  their 
sins,  to  delay  their  return  to  God,  and  abandon  the 
grace  of  the  gospel  under  this  foolish  flattery  and 
wild  presumption,  that  above  six  thousand  years 
hence,  perhaps  a certain  day  may  come  when  the 
worm  of  conscience  will  die,  and  the  fire  of  hell  will 
be  quenched?  Such  presumption  is  madness  and 
distraction  rather  than  reasoning. 

The  second  objection  is  derived  from  the  justice 
and  equity  of  God.  Surely,  may  some  person  say, 
the  justice  of  God  will  proportion  the  punishment  to 
the  offence;  but  since  our  sins  are  but  the  actions  of 
mortal  and  short-lived  creatures,  and  are  committed 
in  a few  years  of  time,  why  should  the  punishment 
be  immortal,  and  the  anguish  be  lengthened  out  to 
eternity?  Can  a righteous  God  pronounce  such  a 
severe  and  unjust  sentence,  and  execute  it  in  its  full 
dimensions? 

Answer.  It  is  not  the  length  of  time  which  wick- 
ed men  spent  in  committing  their  sin£,  nor  the  na- 
ture of  the  persons  who  have  sinned,  that  determines 
the  measure  of  punishment,  but  the  dignity  of  that 
infinitely  glorious  Being,  against  whom  sin  is  com- 
mitted, that  gives  such  a high  aggravation  as  to  re- 
quire punishment  without  end.  How  many  instances 
are  there  amongst  men,  wherein  offenders  against 
their  neighbours,  or  against  a magistrate,  who  spent 
but  a few  moments  in  the  crime,  yet  are  doomed  to 
imprisonment  for  months  and  years?  And  a lower 
degree  of  trespass  against  a king,  which  is  short 
of  high  treason,  is  sometimes  punished  with  con- 
fiscation of  goods,  and  with  poverty  and  close  im- 
prisonment for  life;  and  by  the  same  reason,  the 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


373 


sins  of  men  being  committed  against  a God  of  infi- 
nite majesty,  require  an  endless  punishment,  as  I 
have  proved  in  the  second  argument;  and  therefore 
divine  justice  pronounces  or  inflicts  no  longer  penalty 
than  the  crimes  of  men  deserve,  according  to  their 
aggravations.  If  any  sinners  tarry  then  till  they 
have  paid  the  utmost  farthing  to  divine  justice,  I 
grant  God  will  release  them,  but  he  has  given  us  no 
hope  before. 

The  third  objection  is  drawn  from  the  sovereignty 
and  goodness  of  God.  It  is  granted,  say  they,  that 
the  threatenings  of  eternal  death  are  denounced 
against  sinners  in  scripture,  yet  it  is  not  necessary 
God  should  execute  them  to  the  full.  When  a law 
is  made,  the  threatenings  of  it  only  declare  what  pu- 
nishment the  offender  shall  be  exposed  to,  and  shall 
be  obliged  to  bear  when  it  is  inflicted ; but  these  ex- 
pressions in  a law  do  not  oblige  the  government  to 
inflict  that  sentence  with  all  its  terrors.  It  is  granted, 
that  in  the  case  of  promises,  truth  and  veracity  oblige 
the  promiser  to  fulfil  them  punctually,  because  the 
right  of  the  thing  promised  passes  over  to  that  other 
person  to  whom  the  promise  was  made,  and  he  hath 
such  a right  to  require  it,  that  it  is  injustice  to  with- 
hold it  from  him;  and  therefore  everlasting  felicity 
must  be  given  to  the  righteous:  but  in  threatenings 
the  case  is  otherwise;  for  though  the  full  punish- 
ment is  due  to  sinners,  yet  they  will  never  require 
the  execution  of  it;  and  the  goodness  of  God  will 
incline  him  to  relieve  the  sufferer,  and  to  release  him 
from  the  severity  of  such  a punishment,  where  his 
veracity  or  truth  does  not  forbid  it. 

To  this  I answer  two  ways: 

1.  I will  not  debate  this  point  of  law  now,  how  far 
a governor  of  sovereign  and  absolute  authority  can 
dispense  with  his  own  threatenings,  can  omit  the 
execution  of  them,  relax  the  degree  of  threatened  pu- 
nishment, or  shorten  the  duration  of  it:  but  let  it  be 
33 


374  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

considered,  that  here  is  not  only  the  threatening  of 
God,  the  universal  Governor,  but  the  prediction  of 
this  eternal  punishment,  by  a God  who  cannot  lie. 
God’s  own  truth  and  veracity  are  concerned  in  this 
case,  since  his  Son  Jesus,  who  is  the  greatest  of  his 
messengers,  together  with  the  prophets  and  apostles, 
have  in  the  name  of  God  often  foretold,  that  these 
punishments  shall  be  eternal;  and  therefore  whatso- 
ever an  absolute  governor  might  do,  as  to  shortening 
the  punishment  threatened,  in  a way  of  mercy  and 
relaxation,  yet  I cannot  see  how  the  truth  and  vera- 
city of  God  himself,  or  the  veracity  of  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  great  Prophet,  or  the  truth  of  the 
rest  of  the  prophets  and  messengers  can  be  main- 
tained, if  this  punishment  be  not  executed  according 
to  the  many  express  predictions  of  it.  These  all 
agree  to  tell  us,  by  inspiration  from  heaven,  in  va- 
rious forms  of  speech,  that  the  torments  of  hell  shall 
be  everlasting;  and,  as  I hinted  before,  the  man  Je- 
sus, who  pronounces  this  eternal  sentence  as  a lord 
and  a judge,  foretells  it  also  as  a prophet,  that  the 
execution  of  it  shall  be  everlasting. 

Answer  2.  Obstinate  and  impenitent  sinners  have 
no  reason  to  expect,  that  the  goodness  of  God  should 
release  them  from  their  miseries,  since  the  justice  and 
the  holiness,  the  righteous  government  and  authority 
of  God  in  his  law  require  and  demand  their  due  of 
honour,  as  well  as  his  goodness.  Do  wTe  not  see  these 
honours  of  divine  justice,  and  of  God’s  hatred  of  sin, 
have  been  continually  demanded  and  executed  in 
the  infinite  and  innumerable  evils,  sorrows,  miseries, 
diseases  and  deaths,  that  have  been  spread  over  this 
world  almost  six  thousand  years  because  of  sin  ? Nor 
does  his  goodness  forbid  or  hinder  it. 

And  let  it  be  remembered  too,  that  all  this  im- 
mense variety  and  long  succession  of  plagues  and 
terrors  arose  originally  from  the  just  indignation  and 
resentment  of  God  against  one  sin,  even  that  of  the 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL.  375 

first  man.  Who  was  it  that  burnt  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrha  with  fire  from  heaven?  Who  was  it  that 
chained  fallen  angels  in  darkness  to  a more  terrible 
judgment?  Was  it  not  a God  of  supreme  goodness? 
Who  sent  famines,  and  pestilences,  and  slaughters  all 
over  the  earth  in  many  distinct  generations,  whereby 
mankind  have  been  made  abundantly  wretched  and 
plunged  into  millions  of  distresses?  And  yet  the 
goodness  of  God  abides  for  ever.  And  while  the 
great  God  is  acting  according  to  the  glories  of  his 
nature  and  government  in  punishing  rebellious  crea- 
tures, his  goodness  will  feel  no  soft  and  sensible  im- 
pressions from  all  their  groans  and  outcries;  but  if 
I may  so  express  it,  will  be  changed  into  just  indig- 
nation without  end.  And  the  language  of  it  to  those 
impenitent  wretches  will  be  this:  “Because  I have 
called  and  ye  refused,  ye  have  set  at  naught  all  my 
counsel  and  would  none  of  my  reproof,  I will  laugh 
at  your  calamity,  I will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh ; 
when  your  fear  cometh  as  desolation,  and  your  de- 
struction as  a whirlwind,  when  distress  and  anguish 
cometh  upon  you,  then  shall  ye  call  upon  me,  but  I 
will  not  answer;  ye  shall  seek  me  early,  but  ye  shall 
not  find  me;  for  ye  hated  knowledge,  and  did  not 
choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord ; ye  would  none  of  my 
counsels,  ye  despised  all  my  rebukes;  therefore  shall 
ye  eat  of  the  fruit  of  your  own  way,  and  be  filled 
with  your  own  devices.”  Take  them,  angels,  “bind 
them  hand  and  foot,  and  cast  them  into  everlasting 
fire  and  utter  darkness;  there  shall  be  weeping,  and 
wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth.”  Prov.  i.  Matt.  xxii. 
13. 

Let  us  cease  then  to  murmur  against  the  threat- 
enings  and  transactions  of  the  great  God,  till  we  are 
become  fitter  judges  of  his  perfections  and  their  de- 
mands. Let  us  cavil  no  more  against  his  conduct 
and  government,  till  we  can  teach  him  how  far  his 
punishing  justice  shall  go  in  the  execution  of  his 


376  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

threatenings,  and  till  we  can  assign  to  him  the  point 
and  limit  where  his  goodness  shall  interpose  and  re- 
strain that  justice. 

The  fourth  objection  is  derived  from  the  rectitude 
of  the  nature  of  God,  or  his  common  equity  and 
mercy  united,  which  has  been  represented  in  this 
manner.  Suppose  one  of  the  damned  spirits  among 
mankind  should  address  himself  to  the  great  God  in 
such  sort  of  language  as  this:  “Lord,  I was  created 
by  thy  sovereign  pleasure  without  my  own  will;  I 
did  not  desire  to  be  made,  much  less  to  be  born  in 
such  a relation  to  Adam,  whereby  I brought  a sinful 
nature  into  the  world  with  me;  but  I was  united  by 
thy  power  and  pleasure  to  a body  which  had  the 
seeds  of  sin  and  misery  in  it;  there  were  strong  ap- 
petites and  violent  passions  mingled  with  my  flesh 
and  blood,  which  I myself  had  no  hand  in  procuring; 
they  fermented  in  me  with  much  vehemence,  and  I 
was  tempted  to  many  excesses;  I made  some  resis- 
tance at  first,  and  many  times  tried  to  subdue  them, 
but  I was  overcome:  at  last  I suffered  myself  to  be 
carried  away  by  the  stream  of  these  sinful  affections 
and  appetites,  which  I could  not  possibly  avoid,  nor 
easily  subdue.  Is  it  agreeable  to  thine  equity,  O 
blessed  God,  to  punish  such  a poor  wretch  with  ever- 
lasting torments?  And  can  thy  mercy  continue  to 
see  this  my  misery  for  ever  and  ever,  and  not  help 
me?  I entreat  thee,  O thou  almighty  Author  of  my 
being,  to  destroy  and  annihilate  me  utterly  soul  and 
body;  take  away  this  being  which  I never  asked  nor 
desired;  nay,  which  I would  not  have  consented  to 
accept  among  the  sinful  race  of  mankind,  because  in 
this  track  of  generation  and  existence  I stood  much 
more  likely  to  be  miserable  than  to  be  happy.” 

Answer  I.  As  for  the  reasonableness  and  equity 
of  the  conveyance  and  communication  of  the  origi- 
nal effects  of  the  sin  of  Adam  through  every  gene- 
ration of  man,  it  is  granted  there  are  some  difficulties 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


377 


attending  it;  but  these  are  generally  answered  by 
the  writers  on  that  subject;  and  for  me  to  divert  from 
my  present  discourse,  in  order  to  debate  this  point 
here  would  be  too  tedious. 

The  equity  of  this  wise  and  awful  constitution  of 
God  has  been  lately  vindicated  in  a large  Treatise 
on  the  Ruin  and  Recovery  of  Mankind,  especially  in 
the  second  edition  of  that  book.  But  it  is  enough 
for  my  present  argument  to  say  that  God  himself 
will  make  the  equity  of  this  constitution  to  appear 
with  much  more  evidence  and  conviction  in  the  last 
great  day,  when  millions  of  actual  criminals  shall 
stand  before  the  judgment-seat,  who  owe  the  first 
spring  of  their  sin  and  ruin  to  our  common  parent, 
and  yet  will  fall  under  the  righteous  condemnation 
of  the  Judge. 

Answer  2.  When  God  decreed  to  give  thee  a 
being,  O sinner,  and  designed  thee  in  his  eternal 
ideas  to  be  a man,  placed  among  a thousand  blessings 
of  nature  and  providence,  it  was  then  a favour  of  thy 
Creator;  for  thou  wert  designed  also  in  this  original 
divine  idea  to  have  full  sufficiency  of  power  to  be- 
come wise  and  happy.  It  was  also  a favour  from  thy 
Creator,  that  he  took  all  these  thy  sufficiencies  of 
power,  and  put  them  into  the  hand  of  one  man,  even 
the  father  of  thy  race,  because  he  was  as  wise,  and 
holy,  and  as  well  able  as  any  man  of  his  posterity 
could  be  to  preserve  his  station  in  the  favour  of  God, 
and  to  secure  thy  happiness  together  with  his  own; 
and  he  had  much  stronger  obligations  to  obey  his 
Maker,  and  more  powerful  motives  to  secure  thy  hap- 
piness than  thou  thyself,  or  any  single  man  could 
possibly  have,  because  he  was  intrusted  with  the 
felicity  of  so  many  millions  of  his  own  dear  offspring 
as  well  as  his  own.  Now  though  Adam,  thy  first 
father,  being  thus  furnished  with  sufficiencies  of 
power,  and  with  the  strongest  obligations  to  preserve 
himself  and  thee,  has  actually  sinned  and  ruined 

33* 


378  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

himself  and  his  offspring;  this  is  indeed  an  unhappy 
truth,  but  the  great  God  is  hot  to  blame,  who  has  not 
only  acted  wisely  but  kindly  towards  his  creatures 
in  this  constitution,  because,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
it  was  much  more  probable  that  Adam  would  have 
maintained  his  innocence  and  his  happiness,  toge- 
ther with  that  of  his  offspring. 

Again,  when  the  race  of  man  was  ruined,  and  God 
saw  that  every  man  would  come  into  the  world  under 
unhappy  circumstances  of  guilt  and  corruption  of 
nature,  he  provided  a covenant  of  grace,  and  brought 
thee  into  some  knowledge  of  it;  and  this  had  been 
effectual  to  have  recovered  and  saved  thee  from  the 
ruins  of  the  fall  if  thou  hadst  exerted  all  thy  force, 
employed  all  thy  natural  powers  of  understanding 
and  will  for  this  purpose,  and  used  all  thy  diligence 
to  follow  the  methods  of  his  grace,  and  hadst  sought 
earnestly  for  divine  aids ; for  there  is  no  man  among 
the  damned  is  able  to  say,  I have  done  every  thing 
that  was  in  my  power  to  do;  no  man  shall  be  con- 
demned for  what  was  utterly  impossible  for  him  to 
avoid  : it  is  confessed  indeed  that  thou  art  laid  under 
some  hardships  and  difficulties  by  the  sin  of  thy  first 
father;  yet  it  is  thine  own  actual  and  personal  crimes 
for  which  thou  art  here  condemned  at  this  judgment, 
wherein  every  one  shall  be  judged  and  rewarded  “ac- 
cording to  his  works;”  it  is  for  many  wilful  offences 
against  the  law  of  God,  and  for  sinning  against  the 
offers  of  divine  grace;  it  is  for  obstinacy  against  thy 
own  conscience,  and  all  the  outward  and  inward 
monitions  of  thy  duty,  that  thou  art  fallen  under  this 
sentence,  and  because  thou  didst  not  labour  and  strive 
against  sin,  and  resist  it  even  to  the  end  of  thy  state 
of  life  and  trial.  Thou  hast  had  many  an  inward 
reproof  for  sin,  many  a secret  or  public  call  to  virtue, 
and  perhaps  loud  and  fair  warnings  of  thy  danger: 
but  thou  hast  turned  a deaf  ear  to  them  all,  and  it  is 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


379 


thy  own  folly,  obstinacy,  and  iniquity,  that  have 
brought  thee  into  this  misery,  and  thou  must  eat  the 
fruit  of  thy  own  works. 

If  there  should  be  any  person  found  indeed  among 
Jews,  Gentiles  or  Christians,  who  can  justly  com- 
plain, I have  not  had  a fair  and  full  state  of  trial,  and 
yet  I am  condemned,  I think  we  may  grant  that  the 
righteous  G-od  will  release  such  from  their  misery 
after  they  have  worn  out  a proper  number  of  years 
in  punishment  proportionable  to  their  past  crimes; 
and  that  there  shall  be  a fair,  and  full,  and  proper 
state  of  trial  appointed  to  them  before  they  shall  be 
utterly  and  irretrievably  miserable;  but  if  no  such 
person  be  found  there,  if  there  be  no  such  just  com- 
plaint to  be  .made  among  millions  of  the  damned, 
then  they  may  be  still  continued  in  their  prison  and 
punishment  without  any  imputation  upon  divine  jus- 
tice and  equity. 

Answer  3.  Whensoever  any  such  criminal  in  hell 
shall  be  found  making  such  a sincere  and  mournful 
address  to  the  righteous  and  merciful  Judge  of  all, 
if  at  the  same  time  he  is  truly  humble  and  penitent 
for  his  past  sins,  and  is  grieved  at  his  heart  for 
having  offended  his  Maker,  and  melts  into  sincere 
repentance,  I cannot  think  that  a God  of  perfect 
equity  and  rich  mercy  will  continue  such  a creature 
under  his  vengeance;  but  rather,  that  the  perfections 
of  God  will  contrive  a wTay  for  escape,  though  God 
has  not  given  us  here  any  revelation  or  discovery  of 
such  special  grace  as  this 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  whatever  melting  and 
moving  speeches  may  be  made  by  sinners  here  on 
earth,  in  compassion  to  the  sinners  who  are  gone  be- 
fore them  to  hell ; yet  if  no  such  person  be  ever  found 
in  hell,  truly  and  humbly  repenting  of  his  sins,  (nor 
have  we  any  reason  to  think  there  ever  will,)  why 
should  a righteous  God  be  obliged  to  cease  punishing 


380  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

a rebel  who  only  is  vexed  and  raging  under  his  own 
chains,  and  who  continues  in  the  spirit  of  obstinacy 
and  rebellion  against  God,  and  will  not  repent  of  it? 

Objection  the  fifth  is  derived  from  the  mercy  and 
compassion  of  God,  compared  with  the  mercy  and 
compassion  of  man.  Surely  the  compassion  of  the 
ever  blessed  God,  who  has  described  himself  rich  in 
mercy,  abundant  in  goodness,  and  whose  very  name 
is  love,  1 John  iv.  8,  must  have  transcendent  tender- 
ness and  pity  towards  his  creatures,  the  work  of  his 
hands,  above  all  the  compassions  that  any  one  fellow 
creature  can  express  towards  another.  Now  the 
very  thought  and  name  of  eternal  punishments,  or 
endless  torment,  is  such  as  seems  to  shock  the  nature 
of  a good-natured  man;  and  though  he  was  never  so 
much  injured,  yet  he  would  never  have  a thought  of 
wishing  his  enemy  any  kind  of  eternal  punishment 
for  it,  much  less  of  condemning  him  to  everlasting 
misery,  and  supporting  him  in  being  on  purpose  to 
suffer  it;  and  therefore  we  cannot  suppose  that  God 
will  do  it. 

This  objection  is  farther  strengthened  by  an  ex- 
pression of  our  Saviour  himself,  who  says,  Mark  xviii. 
19:  ‘‘There  is  none  good,  save  one,  that  is  God;” 
as  much  as  to  say,  there  is  none  equal  or  comparable 
in  goodness  to  God  himself;  and  it  is  farther  sup- 
ported still  by  the  common  notions  which  good  men 
have  of  God;  those  expressions  in  the  apocryphal 
writings  confirm  it,  2 Esd.  v.  33:  “Then  said  the 
Lord  unto  me,  Thou  art  sore  troubled  in  mind  for 
Israel : lovest  thou  that  people  more  than  he  that  made 
them?”  And  in  the  same  book,  chap.  viii.  47:  “Thou 
comest  far  short,  that  thou  shouldest  be  able  to  love 
my  creature  more  than  I.”  Now  since  no  good 
man  could  wish  such  a curse  or  mischief  to  his  worst 
and  most  wicked  enemy,  as  torment  without  end, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


381 


surely  we  cannot  conceive  the  great  God  will  ever 
be  so  severe  as  to  inflict  it. 

Answer  1.  It  is  readily  allowed,  that  God  has 
more  goodness  than  any  creature,  but  God  has  also 
more  wisdom  and  knowledge,  which  concur  with 
his  goodness  in  all  his  actions,  and  he  forms  a much 
juster  judgment  concerning  the  evil  and  demerits  of 
sin  and  rebellion  against  himself,  than  it  is  possible 
for  any  creature  to  form;  and  I think  I may  boldly 
assert,  none  can  know  the  complete  evil  of  sin,  or  its 
full  desert,  but  that  same  glorious  Being  against 
whom  sin  is  committed,  who  knows  well  the  dignity 
of  his  own  nature  and  his  own  law,  and  what  un- 
speakable injury  is  done  thereto  by  the  sins  of  men. 
Now  his  goodness  in  all  his  transactions  must  be 
regulated  and  limited  by  this  infinite  wisdom;  and 
if  a man  does  not  see  and  consent  to  the  just  demerits 
of  sin  against  his  Maker,  it  is  because  he  has  less 
wisdom  and  knowledge  than  the  great  God  has, 
and  his  tenderness  and  compassion  may  run  into 
very  great  excesses,  and  may  be  in  some  instances  a 
sign  of  his  weakness  and  folly  as  well  as  of  his  good- 
ness and  pity,  as  I shall  show  under  the  next  an- 
swer. 

At  present  let  us  represent  the  case  in  a common 
instance.  When  criminals  go  to  execution  from 
month  to  month,  or  from  year  to  year,  in  this  great 
city;  and  especially  if  some  of  them  have  a hand- 
some and  agreeable  appearance,  and  if  they  are 
wringing  their  hands  with  outcries,  and  vexing  their 
own  hearts,  and  are  stung  by  their  own  consciences 
for  their  having  brought  this  misery  upon  themselves, 
you  will  find  several  of  the  spectators  of  so  tender  a 
make  as  to  grieve  for  the  execution  of  such  criminals, 
and  to  wish  in  their  hearts  it  was  in  their  power  to 
save  them.  And  yet  farther^if  there  are  numbers 
of  these  wicked  creatures  that  are  sent  at  once  to 
the  punishment  of  the  sword  or  the  gallows,  there 


382  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

may  be  many  of  these  spectators  grieving  for  them, 
and  pitying  them,  and  perhaps  exclaiming  against 
the  severity  of  the  law,  and  the  cruelty  of  the  judge, 
for  condemning  such  malefactors  to  death. 

But  do  all  these  weepers  and  complainants  judge 
justly  of  the  case?  Do  they  consider  how  pernicious 
and  ruinous  a thing  it  would  be  to  a government  to 
let  such  traitors  go  unpunished?  Do  they  know, 
that  it  is  a piece  of  clemency  and  goodness  to  the  in- 
nocent to  punish  the  wicked?  Or  that  it  is  a piece 
of  necessary  honour  due  to  the  laws,  to  make  those 
who  insolently  break  them  sustain  the  penalty  that 
the  law  has  appointed?  Do  they  remember  that  the 
few  good  qualities,  or  supposed  talents,  or  fine  ap- 
pearances which  these  offenders  are  possessed  of, 
should  outweigh  the  demands  of  the  law  and  justice, 
the  peace  of  the  nation  or  kingdom,  and  the  restraint 
of  others  from  the  same  crimes? 

Answer  2.  The  goodness  of  God,  the  eternal  Spi- 
rit, is  a much  superior  thing  to  the  tenderness  and 
compassion  of  man  d welling  in  flesh  and  blood.  Man 
grows  compassionate  by  a sort  of  sympathy,  or  sen- 
sation of  the  miseries  which  his  fellow-creatures  en- 
dure; and  though  this  is  exceeding  useful  for  many 
purposes  of  human  life,  and  therefore  God  planted 
it  in  our  natures;  yet  it  has  so  much  mixture  of  ani- 
mal nature  with  it,  that  it  frequently  degenerates 
into  weakness,  fondness,  and  folly.  And,  indeed,  if 
every  tender  creature  must  be  gratified  in  this  weak- 
ness, and  form  the  rules  of  government,  there  would 
never  a malefactor  fall  under  execution,  but  the  vilest 
criminals  would  be  spared,  though  the  government 
were  ruined. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  goodness  or  mercy  of  God 
is  a sedate  willingness  or  design  to  do  good  to  crea- 
tures, and  particularly  to  the  miserable,  but  always 
according  to  the  directions  of  wisdom  and  holiness. 
As  God  cannot  have  such  anger,  resentment,  or  cru- 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


383 


elty  in  his  nature,  as  mankind  may  fall  into  when 
they  are  punishing  offenders,  so,  properly  speaking, 
he  has  no  such  sort  of  passionate  tenderness  and 
sympathy  in  sparing  them;  though  words  of  the 
greatest  affection  are  sometimes  used  by  the  sacred 
writers  to  figure  out  the  mercies  of  God  to  man;  yet 
God  both  punishes  and  spares  according  to  the  calm 
and  righteous  exercises  of  his  wisdom,  and  not  under 
the  influence  of  such  passions  as  we  feel. 

Since  therefore  the  exercise  of  such  sort  of  passions 
amongst  men  oftentimes  appears  to  be  the  weakness 
of  nature  joined  with  their  ignorance  of  the  rules  of 
equity,  is  it  reasonable  that  the  great  and  all-wise 
God  should  make  such  creatures  his  patterns  in  the 
limitation  of  the  exercises  of  his  justice?  Or  that  he 
should  be  as  weak  as  they  are,  and  as  much  moved 
to  swerve  from  the  rules  of  his  own  righteous  go- 
vernment by  such  a sort  of  tenderness  as  ignorant, 
weak,  and  foolish  man  may  sometimes  express  to- 
wards criminals  in  their  deserved  misery? 

It  is  readily  granted,  that  a wise  and  a good  man 
may  and  ought  to  be  sorry  and  grieved,  that  any  of 
his  fellow-creatures  should  be  so  vicious  as  to  bring 
themselves  under  so  severe  a penalty  by  their  own 
wilful  crimes;  but  still  in  their  calmest  and  wisest 
thoughts  they  acknowledge  the  wisdom  and  equity 
of  the  government  in  inflicting  such' penalties  upon 
those  who  heinously  offend,  and  they  acquiesce  in 
the  sentence  and  the  execution. 

Our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  himself,  who  was  the 
wisest  and  the  best  of  creatures,  looked  upon  the  city 
of  Jerusalem  with  an  eye  of  compassion,  and  wept 
over  it,  Luke  xiii.  34:  “O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem, 
thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  that 
are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I have  gathered 
thy  children  as  a hen  doth  gather  her  brood  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not?  therefore,  behold  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.’7  Let  it  be  observed 


384 


THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 


here,  that  our  Saviour  had  the  bowels,  and  the  com- 
passions, and  tenderness  of  the  best  of  men;  but  he 
still  maintains  the  vindictive  exercise  of  the  govern- 
ment of  God.  4 Your  desolation  must  and  shall  come 
upon  you,  nor  will  I forbid  or  withhold  it.’  And  I 
am  sure  the  human  nature  of  our  blessed  Saviour 
was  formed  nearest  to  the  image  of  God  beyond  any 
creature  besides;  and  as  I have  hinted  before  it  is  he 
who  is  the  supreme  messenger  of  his  Father’s  love 
that  has  pronounced  these  eternal  punishments  upon 
impenitent  sinners  in  many  parts  of  his  ministry. 

Answer  3.  How  far  will  these  objectors  permit 
the  justice  of  God  to  go  in  the  punishment  of  im- 
penitent sinners?  If  eternal  punishment  must  nei- 
ther be  threatened  nor  inflicted,  lest  divine  goodness 
be  injured,  then  all  mankind,  even  the  worst  and 
vilest  of  criminals,  must  certainly  be  one  day  de- 
livered from  their  miseries;  and  thus  the  great  God 
who  is  infinitely  offended,  is  bound  to  finish  his 
wrath  one  day  and  return  in  mercy  to  the  offenders, 
whether  they  return  to  him  by  repentance  or  not. 
What!  may  the  criminal  rebel  creature  with  impu- 
dence and  spite  affront  the  Creator  infinitely,  and  must 
not  the  Creator  have  a right  to  demand  equal  ven- 
geance? No,  he  must  not,  according  to  these  writers  ; 
for  if  the  essential  goodness  of  God  do  certainly  for- 
bid eternal  punishments,  these  absurdities,  as  gross  as 
they  appear,  will  be  the  necessary  consequents  of  it: 
and  though  the  creature  be  not  restrained  from  sin- 
ning, yet  the  blessed  God  will  be  utterly  restrained 
from  punishing:  and  is  this  a doctrine  fit  to  be  be- 
lieved by  Christians  or  to  be  taught  by  those  who 
have  no  commission  for  it  from  their  Bible?  Or,  in- 
deed, will  the  light  of  nature  and  reason  ever  justify 
and  support  this  sort  of  pleading? 

Objection  the  sixth  is  drawn  from  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  his  government  of  the  world.  Surely,  will 
the  sinner  say,  it  was  for  some  valuable  end  that 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


385 


God  at  first  pronounced  punishment  to  attend  the 
sins  of  his  creatures,  for  “ he  does  not  afflict  willingly, 
nor  delight  to  grieve  the  children  of  men!”  his  de- 
sign  must  be  therefore  one  of  these  two  things: 
either  to  correct  and  reform  the  sinners  whom  he 
punishes,  and  reduce  them  to  their  duty,  in  order  to 
partake  of  his  mercy,  or  else  it  must  be  to  maintain 
a public  monument  and  demonstration  of  his  justice, 
and  to  support  the  authority  of  his  law,  and  honour 
of  his  government,  that  he  might  deter  other  crea- 
tures from  sinning  against  him;  but  when  this 
world  is  come  to  its  period,  and  his  governing  pro- 
vidence over  it  is  finished,  and  all  the  means  of  grace 
are  ended,  the  first  end,  namely,  correction  and  re- 
formation, ceases;  there  is  no  more  hope  of  reforming 
such  sinners  as  these.  And  what  farther  need  can 
there  be  of  the  secondary  design  of  punishment, 
namely,  the  demonstration  of  his  justice  in  so  terrible  a 
manner  to  restrain  others  from  sinning,  when  the  state 
of  our  trial  is  ended,  and  all  mankind  are  sent  either 
to  heaven  or  hell? 

Answer  1.  I might  here  reply,  by  way  of  con- 
cession, that  if  there  were  no  other  intelligent  crea- 
tures to  be  witnesses  of  these  eternal  demonstrations 
of  God’s  holiness,  his  justice,  and  his  hatred  of  sin; 
and  if  God  himself  was  the  only  being  who  knew 
of  these  eternal  punishments,  I acknowledge  I can- 
not see  sufficient  reason  for  this  endless  duration  of 
them;  I cannot  give  any  probable  account  why 
creatures,  who  are  never  to  be  corrected  and  reformed, 
should  be  tormented  for  ever  in  secret;  God  perfect- 
ly knows  his  own  holiness  and  justice,  without  such 
monuments  of  it;  and  since  he  has  asserted  this  pu- 
nishment, I think  there  must  be  some  creatures  to 
receive  a moral  influence  from  the  knowledge  of  it. 

I answer  secondly,  When  there  is  a representation 
made  of  the  punishment  of  the  worshippers  of  the 
34 


386  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

beast,  in  Rev.  xiv.  10,  11,  that  “ they  shall  drink  of 
the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured  out 
without  mixture,  and  they  shall  be  tormented  with 
fire  and  brimstone,  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment 
ascendeth  for  ever  and  ever,”  it  is  in  the  presence  of 
the  holy  angels  as  well  as  in  the  presence  of  the 
Lamb.  Angels  and  other  innocent  beings  may  im- 
prove such  a sight  to  valuable  purposes. 

Objection  the  seventh,  When  we  remember  that 
Jesus  Christ  himself  hath  assured  us,  that  but  few 
shall  be  saved,  and  that  the  broad  way  is  full  of  sin- 
ners running  down  to  destruction  and  death ; if 
we  suppose  these  punishments  to  be  endless,  some 
will  be  ready  to  say,  What ! shall  the  greatest  part 
of  God’s  creatures  be  made  miserable  for  ever  and 
ever?  Is  this  consistent  with  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  the  blessed  God,  to  form  such  an  immense 
multitude  of  souls  dwelling  in  bodies,  to  make  them 
for  ever  miserable?  What  will  a God  of  goodness 
have  to  prove  his  goodness  to  his  creatures,  if  far 
the  greatest  part  of  them  are  left  in  everlasting  sor- 
rows ? 

Answer.  The  far  greatest  part  of  the  creation  of 
God  may  be  holy  and  happy  still;  for  this  world  of 
ours,  even  all  mankind,  is  a very  small  portion  of 
God’s  immense  dominions;  and  when  the  transac- 
tions of  our  earth,  and  God’s  present  government  of 
it  shall  be  finished,  he  has  a thousand  other  domi- 
nions among  the  planets  and  stars,  which  has  been 
proved  by  the  reason  of  men  to  a great  degree  of 
probability;  and  these  he  governs  by  righteous  laws ; 
and  though  he  has  not  revealed  much  of  them  to  us 
in  this  life,  yet  he  has  discovered  something  of  this 
kind  in  his  own  word  ; he  has  acquainted  us  with 
his  wise  and  righteous  government  over  fallen  an- 
gels, and  what  was  their  sin,  namely,  their  pride  and 
ambition,  and  what  was  their  punishment  for  their 
first  rebellion,  Jude  6,  and  this  is  done  by  the  wisdom 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


387 


and  mercy  of  God  to  affright  men  from  sinning, 
while  we  behold  how  those  fallen  spirits  are  exposed 
and  set  forth  as  terrible  examples  for  our  warning. 
And  why  may  not  the  everlasting  punishment  of 
sinners  among  the  children  of  men  be  made  a stand- 
ing monument  of  God’s  justice,  to  deter  many 
other  worlds  from  offending  him?  Other  worlds,  I 
say,  of  unknown  creatures,  which  perhaps  may  in- 
habit the  planetary  globes  rolling  round  the  same 
sun  as  our  earth  does;  and  their  state  of  trial  per- 
haps is  not  yet  begun,  or  it  may  be  half  run  out,  and 
yet  shall  not  be  finished  for  some  thousands  of 
years  ? 

Or  perhaps  there  are  other  worlds  of  spirits,  and 
invisible,  incorporeal,  intelligent  creatures  in  a state 
of  trial,  may  persevere  in  glorious  innocence  and 
complete  happiness,  to  the  eternal  praise  of  their 
Maker’s  goodness,  and  may  yet  be  kept  in  their  con- 
stant duty  and  obedience,  by  having  always  in  their 
view  the  eternal  punishments  of  wicked  men.  See 
this  subject  treated  of  more  at  large  in  a book  called, 
The  Strength  and  Weakness  of  Human  Reason, 
second  edition,  page  288. 

The  counsels  of  God  are  far  above  our  reach,  and 
his  dominions  and  governments  are  unknown  to  us. 
What  if  the  great  God  will  have  creatures  in  some 
of  his  territories,  who  in  themselves  are  weak  and 
ready  to  fall,  and  may  be  deterred  from  sin  and  apos- 
tacy  by  such  standing  manifestations  of  his  hatred 
of  it,  and  his  righteous  vengeance  against  it?  And 
since  others  have  been  monuments  of  warning  to  us, 
what  if  he  please  to  make  this  wicked  world  of  ours, 
when  he  has  taken  the  few  righteous  out  of  it  to 
heaven,  I say,  what  if  he  please  to  make  the  rest  an 
everlasting  spectacle  of  his  justice  and  holiness  to  a 
hundred  or  a thousand  other  worlds,  which  may  be 
utterly  unknown  to  us?  And  he  may,  for  this  end, 
reveal  his  transactions  with  mankind  to  those  worlds, 


3S8  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

though  he  has  not  revealed  much  of  their  affairs  to 
us. 

If  I were  to  mention  any  other  objection  worthy 
of  notice,  I know  of  none  but  this,  namely,  Some 
learned  men  suppose  it  to  have  been  the  opinion  of 
the  primitive  fathers,  that  souls  departing  from  this 
world  were  sent  into  Hades,  or  the  state  of  the  dead, 
where  the  righteous  rested  in  a state  of  peace  and 
hope  till  the  resurrection  should  bring  them  to  hea- 
ven; and  the  most  wicked  amongst  mankind  went 
also  to  Hades,  or  this  state  of  the  dead,  under  a long 
and  fearful  expectation  of  the  final  punishments  of 
hell ; but  that  great  multitudes  who  were  of  an  in- 
different character,  and  who  were  not  so  bad  but 
they  might  be  reclaimed,  had  another  state  of  trial 
in  Hades,  whither  they  say,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
at  his  death  descended  and  preached  the  gospel  to 
them,  and  many  of  them  were  recovered,  and  shall  be 
hereafter  raised  to  eternal  life.  The  chief  scripture 
whence  they  borrow  this,  is  1 Pet.  iii.  19,  20,  of 
which  we  have  spoken  before;  and  that  at  the  great 
day  of  judgment  the  incorrigible  sinners  should  be 
♦ sent  with  the  devils  into  punishment  of  fire,  which, 
though  it  may  last  for  a shorter  or  a longer  time,  yet$ 
should  destroy  both  their  bodies  and  their  souls  for 
ever. 

To  this  I answer  first,  If  this  had  been  the  doc- 
trine of  many  ancient  Christians,  yet  unless  they 
could  bring  plainer  proofs  of  it  from  the  word  of 
God  than  one  difficult  and  obscure  text  of  St.  Peter, 
there  is  no  great  reason  for  us  to  receive  from  them 
such  traditions.  The  word  of  God  is  our  only  test 
of  truth,  and  our  instructor  in  matters  of  the  invi- 
sible world. 

Answer  2.  Though  there  might  be  a few  of  the 
early  writers  who  seemed  to  incline  to  some  of  these 
opinions;  yet  this  sense  is  drawn  out  from  most  of 
them  by  learned  men  with  much  difficulty,  uncertainty 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


389 


and  conjecture : and  there  are  many  others  of  them 
who  make  the  punishments  of  hell  as  durable  as 
the  writers  of  later  ages : nor  do  they  mention  or 
allow  of  any  such  sort  of  purgatory  for  souls  of  an  in- 
different character  as  this  objection  pretends.  Those 
who  will  look  into  their  writings  will  find  abundant 
evidence,  that  most  of  them  talk  of  eternal  punish- 
ment by  fire  in  the  very  words  and  language  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  in  direct  opposition  to  this 
doctrine  of  temporal  punishments  in  hell.  I shall 
cite  but  two  writers,  one  of  which  is  the  very  earliest 
of  the  Fathers,  an  acquaintance  of  St.  Paul,  and  that 
is  Clemens  the  Roman,  who  in  the  eighth  section 
of  his  second  epistle  says  thus: 

“Let  us  therefore  repent  whilst  we  are  yet  upon 
t the  earth:  for  we  are  as  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  artifi- 
cer. For  as  the  potter,  if  he  make  a vessel,  and  it 
be  distorted  in  his  hands,  or  broken,  again  forms  it 
anew;  but  if  he  hath  gone  so  far  as  to  throw  it  into 
the  furnace  of  fire,  he  can  no  more  bring  any  reme- 
dy to  it:  so  we,  whilst  we  are  in  this  world,  should, 
repent  with  our  whole  heart  for  whatsoever  evil  we 
have  done  in  the  flesh,  while  we  have  yet  the  time 
of  repentance,  that  we  may  be  saved  by  the  Lord. 

9 For  after  we  shall  have  departed  out  of  this  world, 
we  shall  no  longer  be  able  either  to  confess  our  sins, 
or  repent  in  the  other.”  The  English  reader  may 
find  this  in  Archbishop  Wakes’s  Translation  of  the 
most  primitive  Fathers. 

Justin  Martyr,  who  is  also  one  of  the  most  early 
writers,  in  the  eighth  section  of  his  first  apology,  tells 
us,  that  Plato  teaches  that  Rhadamanthus  and  Minos 
punished  the  unrighteous  who  came  before  them ; 
and  that  we  Christians  say  the  same  thing  will  be 
done,  but  it  is  by  Christ;  when  their  bodies  are  join- 
ed with  their  souls,  and  they  shall  be  punished  with 
eternal  punishment,  and  not  for  the  period  of  a thou- 
sand years  only,  as  Plato  said.  This  same  writer  also, 

34* 


390  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

in  very  many  places  of  his  works,  talks  of  eternal 
punishment,  and  of  punishment  for  an  endless  age, 
and  eternal  fire,  with  eternal  sensation  or  pain. 

Irenseus  also  after  him,  as  well  as  Ignatius  and 
Polycarp  before  him,  speak  of  this  fire  which  is  not 
to  be  quenched,  and  of  death  and  punishment,  not 
temporal,  but  eternal.  So  that  it  is  really  an  impo- 
sition upon  unlearned  readers  to  pretend,  that  the 
doctrine  which  denies  the  eternity  of  the  punish- 
ments of  hell,  was  the  common  sense  of  the  primi- 
tive fathers,  though  it  is  granted  that  Origen  and 
some  others  might  be  of  this  opinion. 

To  conclude;  since  the  word  of  God  has  expressly 
assured  us,  that  these  punishments  of  sinful  men  shall 
be  eternal,  it  is  not  for  us  to  hearken  to  any  other  doc- 
trines, and  neglect  what  God  has  said,  nor  is  it  fit  for 
us  to  dispute  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  the  Divine  con- 
duct, nor  to  impeach  his  goodness.  “ Let  God  be  true, 
though  every  man  be  a liar;”  let  God  be  wise  though 
every  man  be  a fool;  let  God  be  just  and  righteous 
in  all  his  ways,  though  man  vainly  murmur  against 
him,  and  raise  these  noisy  and  feeble  remonstrances 
against  his  judgments.  “The  counsel  of  the  Lord 
shall  stand,  and  he  will  do  all  his  pleasure  ” in  the  eter- 
nal manifestations  of  his  justice  as  well  as  his  grace.  ^ 
If  there  be  any  supposed  inconsistency  or  cloud  of 
difficulty  remaining  on  his  conduct,  he  will  clear  it 
up  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  rational  mind  one  day, 
and  will  bring  the  conscience  of  every  condemned 
sinner  to  acknowledge  the  equity  of  his  proceedings; 
the  whole  creation  shall  then  justify  the  final  sentence 
of  judgment  on  all  the  sons  of  men. 

I cannot  finish  this  awful  argument  better  than  the 
apostle  finishes  the  same  sort  of  subject  in  the  ninth 
and  eleventh  chapters  to  the  Romans.  “ O man,  who 
art  thou  that  repliest  against  God?  What  if  God, 
willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power 
known,  hath  endured  with  much  long-suffering  the 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


391 


vessels  of  wrath  who  have  fitted  themselves  for  de- 
struction? And  that  he  might  make  known  the  riches 
of  his  glory  on  the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  hath 
afore  prepared  unto  glory  ? O the  depths  of  the  riches 
both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge/’  the  justice  and 
the  goodness  of  God!  how  unsearchable  are  his  judg- 
ments, and  his  ways  past  finding  out?  For  of  him, 
and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things,  to  whom 
be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen. 

SECTION  III. 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  ETERNITY  OF  PUNISHMENT  IN 

HELL. 

As  we  have  before  drawn  various  inferences  from 
the  nature  of  those  punishments  that  are  prepared 
for  sinners  in  the  world  to  come,  so  there  are  other 
inferences  and  terrible  reflections  which  may  be  de- 
rived from  the  duration  or  perpetuity  of  the  torments 
of  hell. 

Reflection  I.  What  unspeakable  anguish  and 
torture  does  this  one  circumstance  add  to  every  pain 
and  sorrow  of  damned  creatures,  that  it  is  everlasting 
and  has  no  end!  What  unknown  twinges  in  the 
conscience  does  this  thought  give  to  the  gnawing  of 
the  cruel  worm,  namely,  that  it  is  a worm  that  never 
dies!  What,  inconceivable  force  and  sting  of  tor- 
ment does  this  add  to  the  fire  of  God’s  indignation 
in  hell,  that  it  is  a fire  which  shall  never  be  quenched. 
When  one  year  of  torment  and  sorrow  is  ended,  or 
one  thousand  years  are  come  to  their  period,  the  case 
of  sinners  is  still  much  the  same,  the  vengeance 
remains  still  as  heavy  as  ever,  and  seems  as  far  off 
from  its  end.  This  dreadful  price,  which  the  justice 
of  God  demands  for  the  reparation  of  our  offences 
against  his  law  and  his  authority,  is  a price  which 
creatures  can  never  pay,  for  it  is  infinite;  and  there- 


392  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

fore  when  a finite  creature  begins  to  make  payment 
thereof  with  his  own  sufferings,  these  sufferings  must 
be  everlasting. 

It  is  evident,  that  one  wilful  sin  is  sufficient  to 
sink  creatures  under  the  indignation  of  God  for  six 
thousand  years;  I call  the  angels  who  sinned  for  wit- 
nesses to  this  truth;  they  were  formed  in  holiness 
and  in  glory  before  the  creation  of  this  lower  world, 
and  probably  they  sinned  and  fell  before  this  crea- 
tion too;  and  they  are  yet  imprisoned  and  confined 
under  perpetual  chains  of  darkness,  as  the  word  of 
God  tells  us,  and  reserved  to  everlasting  punishment 
at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  And  if  thou,  O 
sinner,  among  the  sons  of  men,  if  thou  diest  in  an 
unregenerate,  unholy,  and  unpardoned  state,  the 
sins  of  thy  wrhole  life  are  charged  upon  thee,  and 
thou  art  daily  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day 
of  wrath,  and  thou  shalt  not  escape  from  this  prison 
till  thou  hast  paid  the  utmost  farthing.  Rom.  ii.  5, 
Matt.  v.  26. 

If  one  sin  deserves  all  this  misery  which  has  been 
described,  what  a dreadful  reckoning  will  the  sins 
of  thy  whole  life  come  to,  when  every  command  of 
God  which  thou  hast  broken  shall  appear  and  de- 
mand reparation  for  its  injured  honour!  Remember, 
O sinner,  obstinate  and  rebellious,  remember  thou 
hast  to  do  with  a great  and  dreadful  God,  who  has 
all  thine  iniquities  ever  before  his  eyes.  Isa.  lvi.  5: 
“ Behold  they  are  written  before  me,  and  I will  re- 
1 compense,  saith  the  Lord,  their  iniquity  into  their 
bosom.”  He  is  a God  that  will  never  forget  any 
one  of  thy  crimes.  Amos  viii.  7:  “The  Lord  hath 
sworn  by  the  excellency  of  Jacob,  Surely  I will 
never  forget  any  of  their  works.”  Though  thou  hast 
lost  and  forgotten  them,  he  will  bring  them  again 
into  thy  conscience  with  a terrible  remembrance; 
and  when  this  God  comes  forth  in  a way  of  ven- 
geance, “every  transgression  and  disobedience  shall 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


393 


receive  a just  recompense  of  reward.”  “Vengeance 
belongeth  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord,”  Heb.  ii.  2,  and  x. 
30.  “ He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,”  when  he  “ laid 
on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,’’  will  never  spare  thee 
who  art  the  personal  and  criminal  transgressor.  Eter- 
nal recompenses  are  due  to  the  demands  of  justice, 
and  he  will  punish  till  full  payment  is  made,  equal 
to  the  evil  of  sin,  that  is,  to  all  everlasting. 

Reflection  II.  What  infinite  and  eternal  concerns 
of  men  hang  upon  the  short  and  slender  thread  of 
human  life!  An  eternal  heaven  or  an  eternal  hell 
depend  on  our  good  or  ill  behaviour  in  this  short  and 
mortal  state.  While  life  remains  the  sinner’s  hope 
remains;  he  abides  on  the  stage  of  action,  and  this  is 
the  state  of  trial  for  eternity : but  as  soon  as  the  thread 
of  life  is  broken,  immediately  ensues  endless  joy  or 
endless  sorrow. 

What  a poor  fleeting  vapour,  what  a thin  and  frail 
bubble  is  this  feeble  and  uncertain  thing  which  we 
call  life!  And  yet  what  matters  of  immense  impor- 
tance depend  upon  it!  This  present  life  is  a prize 
put  into  our  hands,  for  it  is  the  only  time  given  us  to 
obtain  deliverance  and  escape  from  eternal  death. 
Life  in  this  view,  as  mere  a bubble  and  vapour  as  it  is, 
carries  in  it  something  of  infinite  and  everlasting  mo- 
ment: but  alas,  how  wretchedly  does  foolish  and  sin- 
ful mankind  trifle  and  squander  it  away  amidst  a thou- 
sand vanities  and  impertinences,  or  saunter  it  out  in 
sloth  and  laziness,  with  an  utter  disregard  of  the  im- 
portant eternity  that  depends  upon  it!  What  multi- 
tudes are  there  that  waste  the  golden  hours  of  grace, 
and  the  seasons  of  hope,  in  procuring  to  themselves, 
by  their  own  wilful  iniquities,  a length  of  damnation 
and  everlasting  despair! 

While  we  dwell  here  in  the  midst  of  the  means  of 
mercy  and  salvation,  there  is  hope  that  our  sinful  souls 
may  be  healed  of  that  disease  which  is  breeding  the 
ever-gnawing  worm  within  us.  We  may  prevent 


394  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

the  fuel  of  divine  wrath  from  kindling  into  a flame 
which  cannot  be  quenched : but  when  once  the  clock 
of  life  has  gone  through  its  appointed  spaces,  and  the 
last  hour  strikes,  whether  it  be  three  or  five,  whether 
at  twelve  at  noon  or  at  midnight,  all  hope  is  for  ever 
gone;  we  ate  plunged  into  the  regions  of  death, 
despondency  and  darkness,  and  nothing  remains  but 
the  actual  torture  of  the  worm  of  conscience  to  seize 
on  us,  and  the  fire  of  divine  anger  actually  breaks  out, 
which  shall  burn  to  the  lowest  hell. 

O could  we  but  behold  ourselves  in  the  glass  of 
wisdom  while  we  are  yet  standing  upon  the  slippery 
edge  of  this  burning  precipice,  and  playing  with 
painted  bubbles  there,  or  in  warm  pursuit  of  a flying 
shining  feather  along  the  brink  of  this  burning  tor- 
rent, what  fools  and  madmen  should  we  appear  to  be 
even  in  our  own  eyes!  And  yet  we  go  on  to  prac- 
tise this  folly,  this  madness,  day  after  day,  in  spite 
of  all  the  warnings  of  God  and  man,  till  at  last  our 
foot  slips  in  some  dreadful  moment,  and  we  va- 
nish out  of  the  sight  of  our  companions,  and  are  lost 
for  ever. 

Reflection  III.  If  the  miseries  of  hell  are  eter- 
nal, how  unreasonable  a thing  is  it  ever  to  suffer  the 
loss  of  any  possessions  or  joys  which  are  temporal 
and  perishing  to  come  into  competition  with  them! 
Surely  there  is  nothing  that  belongs  to  time  that 
should  tempt  us  to  run  the  risk  of  the  sorrows  of 
eternity,  nor  allure  us  to  commit  one  sin  against  God, 
which  is  the  fatal  spring  of  such  sorrows!  Stand 
still,  O sinner,  and  hearken  to  the  voice  of  wisdom. 
Do  the  pleasures  of  sense,  or  the  gaieties  of  the  sight, 
or  the  wealth  or  grandeurs  of  this  life  allure  thee  to 
make  thy  way  boldly  through  any  means  toward  the 
possession  of  them,  think  with  thyself,  is  it  by  offend- 
ing this  great  and  dreadful  God?  And  wilt  thou 
dare  to  take  one  step  towards  these  dangerous  and 
deceitful  vanities,  and  risk  thine  immortal  welfare  in 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


395 


the  pursuit?  What  a foolish  bargain  wilt  thou  make 
to  gain  the  whole  world  of  short-lived  perishing 
trifles,  and  to  lose  thy  soul  in  endless  perdition! 
Mark  viii.  36.  Dare  any  of  us  venture  an  eternal 
state  of  torment  to  gain  the  flattering  and  delusive 
joy  of  a short  hour,  or  a winter’s  day  ? 

What  are  all  the  gratifications  of  flesh  and  sense? 
What  are  all  the  swelling  titles  of  honour  amongst 
men?  What  are  all  the  treasures  of  this  perishing 
world?  How  short  is  their  duration,  and  how  short 
is  thy  possession  of  them!  All  earthly  felicities 
perish  in  the  using,  and  are  no  sooner  enjoyed  but 
are  quickly  lost  again,  or  expire  in  the  enjoyment; 
but  if  the  ruin  of  a soul,  and  a lost  heaven,  be  the 
price  of  them,  how  mad  is  the  purchase,  and  how 
wretched  is  the  purchaser ! 

Reflection  IV.  How  patiently  should  we  bear 
all  the  labours  and  fatigues,  the  pains  and  miseries 
of  this  mortal  life,  when  we  have  any  hope  of  our 
deliverance  from  the  pains  and  sorrows  of  immor- 
tality? As  for  our  maladies  and  sorrows  here  on 
earth,  blessed  be  God  they  are  not  eternal:  there 
are  some  intervals  to  relieve,  and  there  is  some 
period  to  finish  them.  When  we  ask  a friend,  who 
is  sick  and  in  pain,  “How  fare  you?”  “I  am  in 
pain  now,”  says  he,  “but  I hope  I shall  be  easy  anon; 
I am  sick  to-day,  but  I trust  I shall  be  in  health  to- 
morrow.” This  is  a sweet  mitigation  of  the  present 
uneasiness,  and  gives  relief  to  the  patient.  But  how 
dreadful  and  piercing  would  these  accents  be,  if  we 
should  hear  our  friend  make  this  answer  to  us:  “I 
am  all  over  in  extreme  pain  and  anguish,  and  I shall 
never,  never  be  eased  of  it;  I lie  under  exquisite  tor- 
ment of  the  flesh,  and  horror  in  my  soul,  and  I shall 
for  ever  feel  this  horror  and  this  torment.”  Such  is 
the  case  of  the  damned  sinners  in  hell,  and  therefore 
their  agonies  are  intolerable. 


396 


THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 


But  if  you  have  any  comfortable  prospect  of  the 
pardon  of  sin,  and  a well-grounded  hope  of  eternal 
salvation  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  by  the 
rules  and  promises  of  the  gospel,  all  the  temporal 
toils  and  plagues  that  can  possibly  stand  between  us 
and  heaven  should  be  despised  and  disregarded  by 
us,  and  we  should  learn  to  triumph  over  them  with 
the  victorious  songs  of  thankfulness  and  praise. 
Blessed  be  the  name  of  our  God,  though  he  has 
smitten  us  sorely,  yet  he  has  not  given  us  over  to 
everlasting  death. 

Let  our  thoughts  ascend  to  the  heavenly  regions, 
and  let  us  ask  those  who  are  arrived  thither,  out  of 
the  land  of  temptation  and  conflict,  out  of  these 
tabernacles  of  sin  and  sorrow;  let  us  ask  them,  what 
gave  them  so  divine  a courage  and  so  firm  a patience 
in  the  midst  of  all  their  trials.  With  one  voice  they 
will  all  make  answer,  It  was  the  view  of  our  deliver- 
ance from  an  eternal  hell,  and  the  hopes  of  obtaining 
salvation  by  Christ  Jesus  with  eternal  glory;  it  is 
this  that  supported  us  under  every  burden,  and  bore 
us  on  with  a spirit  of  faith  and  victory  through  every 
hardship  on  earth.  It  was  for  this  we  laboured,  and 
suffered,  and  counted  not  life,  nor  any  of  the  blessings 
of  it  dear  to  us,  nor  any  of  the  sorrows  of  it  in- 
tolerable, that  we  might  escape  the  everlasting  sor- 
rows of  a future  state,  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
life  eternal.  And  O may  every  one  of  us  be  the  fol- 
lowers of  them  who  through  this  faith  and  patience 
have  obtained  the  promised  felicity ! May  we  also 
make  our  way  by  the  same  motives,  through  the 
floods  and  the  fires  of  affliction  and  distress,  to  reach 
this  everlasting  heaven,  and  to  escape  everlasting 
burnings! 

In  order  to  confirm  our  patience,  and  to  animate 
our  zeal,  let  us  survey  the  blessed  example  of  St. 
Paul,  who  was  reproached,  who  was  buffeted,  who 
was  persecuted  with  stones,  and  whips,  and  scourges, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


397 


and  bore  a thousand  indignities,  who  was  assaulted 
with  endless  strokes  of  injury  and  violence,  and  yet 
rejoiced  in  the  midst  of  all  his  sufferings  in  the  view 
of  his  eternal  hope.  The  spirit  of  faith  in  the  midst 
of  all  his  sufferings  taught  him  to  sing  this  divine 
song:  “ Our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a mo- 
ment, are  working  for  us  a far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory.”  “The  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the 
glory  that  shall  be  revealed,”  2 Cor.  iv.  17;  Rom. 
viii.  18.  Nor  are  they  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  vengeance, 
from  which  we  are  delivered  by  faith  and  patient 
obedience  to  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Reflection  Y.  If  the  miseries  of  hell  are  eternal, 
we  can  never  have  our  deliverance  from  them  made 
too  secure.  If  the  danger  of  any  mischief  to  which 
we  might  be  exposed,  were  but  slight,  and  the  dura- 
tion of  it  short,  there  might  be  possibly  some  excuse 
for  our  delay  to  escape  it;  but  when  it  is  total  and 
irrevocable  ruin,  to  which  we  are  liable  every  mo- 
ment while  we  continue  in  a state  of  sin,  we  should 
fly  with  all  the  wings  of  our  souls,  and  never  be  at 
ease  or  quiet,  till  we  are  got  without  the  reach  of 
danger,  and  settled  in  a place  of  safety,  or  on  the 
Rock  of  our  salvation. 

O could  we  but  perceive  a thousandth  part  of  the 
horror  that  is  contained  in  an  eternal  hell,  an  eternal 
banishment  from  the  face  and  favour  of  God,  and 
the  eternal  impressions  of  his  anger,  we  should  never 
give  ourselves  rest  one  moment,  till  we  had  returned 
to  God  by  a sincere  repentance,  and  were  reconciled 
to  him  that  made  us;  till  we  fled  for  refuge  to  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  and  to  his  sanctifying  grace,  which 
is  the  only  hope  that  is  set  before  us.  We  should 
never  give  ourselves  leave  to  lie  down,  or  awake  in 
35 


398  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

quiet,  while  we  were  destitute  of  a saving  interest  in 
the  salvation  of  Christ,  and  had  attained  to  some 
clear  evidence  of  it,  and  a well-grounded  hope. 

Have  we  not  sometimes  felt  the  worm  of  con- 
science begin  to  gnaw  within  us,  and  to  prey  upon 
our  spirits  after  the  commission  of  some  sin?  And 
shall  we  not  apply  ourselves  with  all  holy  speed  to 
the  divine  Physician  who  can  kill  this  gnawing  worm 
within  us,  and  can  heal  those  sinful  maladies  that  are 
breeding  it?  Have  we  not  sometimes  felt  the  threat- 
enings  of  the  wrath  of  God  in  his  law,  like  a fire  in 
our  bones?  With  what  infinite  desire  then,  and  what 
restless  vehemence  should  we  fly  to  the  blood  of 
Jesus  our  great  sacrifice,  which  alone  can  quench 
the  fiery  indignation  of  God,  and  prevent  it  from 
growing  up  to  an  everlasting  flame. 

Had  we  upon  our  spirits  such  a sense  of  the  ter- 
rors of  the  Lord  in  hell,  as  his  threatenings  represent, 
we  should  never  be  satisfied  with  such  cold  doubtful 
hopes  of  our  deliverance  from  them,  as  thousands  of 
nominal  Christians  are  contented  with ; but  we  should 
make  every  needful  and  critical  inquiry,  whether 
our  repentance  were  sincere,  whether  our  faith  in 
Christ  were  unfeigned,  whether  our  hopes  had  a solid 
foundation  in  the  divine  promise;  we  should  search 
every  power  of  our  souls,  and  examine  our  hearts 
through  every  corner,  whether  sin  be  mortified  there, 
whether  the  Christian  virtues  are  formed  within  us, 
and  the  divine  image  is  begun  to  be  stamped  upon 
our  minds;  we  should  be  restless  and  impatient  in 
our  inward  searches  whether  we  are  made  new  crea- 
tures, whether  we  are  born  of  God  and  become  his 
children,  and  are  secured  by  his  gospel  from  this 
everlasting  vengeance.  The  degree  and  the  infinite 
duration  of  this  misery  should  appoint  the  proportion 
of  our  zeal  and  solicitude  to  escape  it. 

A man  who  sees  or  feels  his  own  house  on  fire  un- 
der him,  does  not  continue  upon  his  bed  of  sloth, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


399 


or  sit  amusing  himself  among  the  ornaments  of  his 
chamber,  till  the  flames  have  broken  through  and 
seized  him ; but  with  huge  outcries  he  seeks  for  help, 
and  flies  in  haste  for  his  life  wheresoever  he  finds  a 
• way.  Such  should  be  the  language,  and  such  the 
activity  of  sinful  creatures  to  escape  the  wrath  to 
come;  and  such  will  be  the  outcries  of  sinners  when 
they  are  thoroughly  awakened;  this  language  of 
every  place,  and  of  every  hour  will  then  be  awakened, 
“What  shall  I do  to  be  saved?  Whither  shall  I 
fly  for  refuge?  O blessed  Jesus,  receive  me  into  thy 
protection,  and  be  thou  my  deliverer.” 

Give  me  leave  to  repeat  this  sort  of  expostulation 
with  lingering  and  delaying  sinners,  or  with  drowsy 
and  formal  Christians.  If  you  would  set  yourselves 
often  in  the  blaze  of  these  everlasting  burnings,  you 
would  never  satisfy  yourselves  with  such  cold  faint 
wishes,  such  lazy  endeavours,  such  languid  efforts  of 
faith  and  repentance  to  escape  this  fiery  indignation 
that  shall  never  be  quenched;  nor  would  you  con- 
tent yourselves  with  dark  and  doubtful  evidences  of 
your  interest  in  the  love  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus;  but  you  would  be  day  and  night  busy 
with  your  own  hearts  in  the  most  intimate  and  care- 
ful search  after  converting  grace  and  living  Christi- 
anity; you  would  never  be  at  rest  till  you  felt  the 
new  nature  working  with  power  and  bright  evidence 
within  you,  that  you  might  be  able  to  say,  “We 
know  there  is  no  condemnation  belongs  to  us,  but 
that  we  are  passed  from  death  unto  life.” 

Let  us  proceed  upon  this  subject,  turning  the  dis- 
course from  ourselves  to  our  friends,  and  say,  With 
what  fervour  of  love,  with  what  holy  zeal  and  com- 
passion should  we  labour  to  save  our  friends  and  all 
that  are  dear  to  us  from  this  eternal  destruction  ? 
What  words  of  fiery  terror  shall  we  choose  to  awaken 
those  who  slumber  on  the  edge  of  endless  burnings? 
What  language  of  kind  and  tender  passion  shall  wo 


400  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

choose  to  reach  their  hearts?  What  phrases  of  melt- 
ing pity  to  hasten  their  escape  from  this  precipice 
of  burning  ruin,  or  to  pluck  them  as  brands  out  of 
the  fire  before  it  becomes  unquenchable?  Knowing 
these  terrors  of  the  Lord,  with  what  vehemence  of 
zeal  should  we  try  to  persuade  men,  our  fellow-mor- 
tals, that  they  would  not  venture  into  the  midst  of 
these  miseries,  and  beseech  them  in  the  name  of 
Christ  to  be  reconciled  to  God?  This  was  the  prac- 
tice, and  these  the  motives  of  the  great  apostle,  as  he 
describes  them  at  the  latter  end  of  the  fifth  chapter 
in  his  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

O with  what  force  of  ardent  and  active  compassion 
should  ministers  preach  both  the  curses  of  the  law 
and  the  grace  of  the  blessed  gospel,  to  perishing  sin- 
ners, and  make  haste  to  rescue  their  souls  from  this 
everlasting  vengeance?  With  what  warm  and  solicit- 
ous zeal  should  they  lay  hold  of  those  poor  thought- 
less wretches  who  are  madly  indulging  their  lusts 
and  follies,  and  thereby  preparing  themselves  to  be- 
come fit  fuel  for  this  eternal  fire?  They  are  forming 
themselves  by  their  iniquities  to  become  vessels  of 
this  everlasting  indignation;  let  us  seize  them  by 
some  kind  and  constraining  wmrds  of  love,  some  out- 
cries of  compassion  and  fear,  lest  they  rush  into  those 
flames  which  will  never  be  quenched : perhaps  when 
they  are  summoned  away  from  us  by  the  stroke  of 
death,  they  may  leave  us  in  most  uncomfortable  sor- 
rows for  our  neglect,  while  they  are  suffering  the  long 
endless  punishment  due  to  their  own  iniquities. 

Reflection  VI.  How  unreasonable  a thing  is  it 
for  us  ministers,  who  are  charged  and  intrusted  with 
the  whole  counsel  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  men, 
to  avoid  the  mention  of  these  his  eternal  terrors  in 
our  sermons,  and  in  our  addresses  to  mortal  creatures, 
creatures  who  are  daily  preparing  themselves  for 
them  by  their  sins,  and  are  ready  to  plunge  into  the 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


401 


midst,  of  them!  Has  not  our  blessed  Saviour  made 
frequent  mention  of  them  in  his  gospel,  and  set  them 
in  their  dreadful  array  before  his  hearers?  Has  he 
not  expressed  them  in  their  strongest  terms,  and 
spread  them  in  their  most  frightful  colours,  and  set 
them  in  their  full  and  everlasting  extent,  before  the 
sinners  who  attended  his  ministry?  And  did  he  ever 
give  any  hint  that  they  should  be  understood  in  a 
milder  sense?  Have  not  the  apostles  followed  their 
Lord  in  the  same  dreadful  display  of  the  sharp  and 
ever-during  punishments  of  hell?  And  have  they 
taught  ns  to  qualify  these  terrors  by  gentler  interpre- 
tations of  them?  And  have  not  such  kind  of  dis- 
courses been  abundantly  blessed  in  the  providence 
of  God,  both  in  ancient  and  later  ages,  to  awaken  and 
save  multitudes  of  the  souls  of  men? 

How  many  holy  and  happy  spirits  are  now  re- 
joicing before  God,  and  before  the  throne  of  his  love, 
and  encompassed  with  all  the  joys  of  immortality, 
who  owe  the  beginnings  of  their  repentance,  and  the 
first  turn  of  their  souls  towards  faith  and  salvation  to 
such  words  of  terror  as  these?  How  many  of  the 
saints  on  high  have  been  first  awakened  from  their 
deadly  sleep  in  sin  by  the  ministrations  of  this  eternal 
vengeance  of  God?  How  many  have  been  frighted 
out  of  their  indolence  at  first  by  the  discovery  of 
these  everlasting  horrors  of  conscience  and  agonies 
of  soul?  The  dread  of  the  worm  that  never  dies  has 
affrighted  their  consciences  from  a course  of  sin;  the 
fiery  indignation  which  shall  never  be  quenched  has 
flashed  in  their  bosoms  from  the  lips  of  the  preacher, 
‘and  has  set  them  all  over  trembling,  and  filled  all 
their  inward  powers  with  dismay  and  anguish  : their 
tongue  has  broke  into  loud  and  earnest  inquiries, 
“ Who  shall  deliver  me  from  this  eternal  death  ? How 
shall  I escape  this  everlasting  wrath  to  come?”  And 
the  Spirit  of  God  by  degrees  has  led  them  to  Jesus, 
and  his  atoning  blood,  his  gospel,  his  righteousness 


402  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

and  his  converting  grace,  as  the  only  way  of  deliver- 
ance  and  salvation. 

How  unreasonable  a thing  is  it  for  ministers  in 
their  preaching  to  soften  these  terrors  of  the  Lord,  to 
cut  short  these  endless  horrors  and  anguish,  and  to 
mitigate  the  miseries  of  hell  and  damnation,  since 
even  all  that  length  and  eternity  in  which  Christ  and 
his  apostles  preached  these  terrors,  have  not  been 
sufficient  to  reclaim  mankind  from  their  iniquities; 
but  multitudes  of  then},  in  the  face  of  all  these  threat- 
enings,  still  persist  in  the  broad  way  to  destruction 
and  death. 

Can  we  possibly  do  any  honour  to  the  ministry  of 
our  blessed  Lord,  or  is  there  any  real  service  done 
to  the  souls  of  men  by  our  fond  and  vain  reasonings 
to  shorten  these  sorrows,  and  put  a period  to  these 
threatened  torments?  Will  the  blessed  Jesus,  when 
he  sits  on  the  throne  of  judgment,  give  us  thanks  for 
running  counter  to  the  language  of  his  own  ministry 
and  for  daring  to  contradict  his  denounced  ven- 
geance? 

By  the  various  expressions  and  representations  of 
this  matter  in  scripture,  in  such  solemn  and  dreadful 
language,  must  I not  suppose  that  the  blessed  God, 
and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  designed  and  intended, 
that  mankind  should  believe  the  pains  and  punish- 
ments of  hell  will  be  eternal?  Can  I then  be  cen- 
sured for  endeavouring  to  establish  and  promote  the 
awful  doctrine  which  both  God  the  Father  and  his 
Son  intended  should  be  believed,  and  by  which  they 
designed  to  guard  both  the  law  and  the  gospel?  A 
doctrine  which  was  left  on  record  to  deter  sinners 
from  the  paths  of  sin  and  destruction,  and  to  awaken 
the  souls  and  consciences  of  men  to  repentance? 
On  the  other  hand,  can  those  teachers  be  approved 
of  God  or  good  men,  whose  evident  design  is  to  lead 
the  world  to  disbelieve  this  solemn  and  terrible  warn- 
ing of  the  great  God? 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


403 


Let  us  now  proceed  in  these  inquiries,  and  address 
ourselves  to  those  wicked  and  miserable  creatures, 
who  are  actually  suffering  this  divine  vengeance. 
Let  us  ask  them,  how  they  approve  of  this  sort  of 
preaching  which  withholds  from  tfffe  eyes,  and  ears, 
and  consciences  of  men,  the  most  dreadful  circum- 
stance of  these  horrors!  Will  any  of  the  damned 
wretches  of  hell  thank  us  for  hiding  so  dreadful  a 
part  of  these  miseries  from  them?  Will  they  bless 
us  for  lessening  the  threatened  curses  and  indigna- 
tion of  God?  u No,’*  says  the  condemned  wretch, 
“ those  preachers  are  worthy  of  my  curses  and  not 
my  thanks,  who  abated  these  terrors  of  the  Lord, 
and  shortened  his  threatened  punishment;  for  they 
persuaded  me  to  hope  there  would  be  an  end  of  my 
misery,  and  thereby  tempted  me  to  venture  upon 
those  sins  which  I should  have  renounced  with  abo- 
mination, had  I believed  the  words  of  God,  and  these 
everlasting  torments.  O cursed  and  cruel  preachers, 
who  by  softening  and  curtailing  the  sentence  of  eter- 
nal misery,  gave  a sort  of  license  to  my  wickedness, 
and  broke  one  of  the  strongest  bars  that  restrained 
me  from  sinning!  It  is  by  this  sort  of  flattery  they 
paved  my  way  down  to  hell,  and  have  brought  me 
into  this  prison,  this  eternal  anguish,  whence  there 
is  no  release.”* 

Say,  ye  who  preach  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall 
one  day  be  opened  to  let  out  the  prisoners,  ye  who 
tell  sinners  there  is  a time  of  release  for  them,  say, 
do  ye  expect  to  frighten  them  out  of  their  sins  by 

* Some  of  the  ancients  have  called  those  preachers,  who  shorten 
the  pains  of  hell,  the  merciful  or  compassionate  doctors:  and  doc- 
tor T.  Burnett  calls  those  merciless  or  uncompassionate,  who 
preach  the  eternity  of  it.  But  I think  it  will  appear  one  day, 
that  those  are  truly  the  compassionate  writers  and  teachers,  who 
most  effectually  affright  and  prevent  men  from  sin  and  damnation ; 
and  those  who  have  given  wicked  men  hope  of  their  release  from 
hell,  will  be  in  danger  of  being  charged  with  smoothing  their  way 
to  this  misery,  by  softening  the  terrors  of  it. 


404 


THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 


lessening  their  fear  of  God  and  his  wrath  to  come? 
Do  ye  hope  to  bring  obstinate  and  impenitent  rebels 
to  a more  speedy  remorse  for  sin,  and  to  begin  a life 
of  holiness,  by  p^suading  them  that  these  terrors  of 
God  shall  have  an  end  ? Can  ye  imagine  that  such 
vain  tidings,  such  soothing  flattery  will  ever  melt 
them  to  repentance  and  love,  when  all  the  grace  of 
the  gospel  mingled  with  the  blood  and  tears  of  the 
Son* of  God  will  not  do  it?  Would  not  this  man- 
ner of  preaching  rather  encourage  them  to  run  on 
still  in  their  rebellions,  and  make  them  more  regard- 
less of  their  highest  interest?  Would  it  not  tempt 
them  to  give  a loose  to  their  vilest  inclinations,  and 
all  the  flagrant  and  abominable  enormities  of  their 
own  heart,  when  they  shall  be  told  that  these  pu- 
nishments, which  the  Bible  calls  everlasting,  shall 
one  day  come  to  an  end  ? 

Besides,  I believe  it  has  been  observed  in  every 
age,  that  the  fears  of  this  worm  which  never  dies, 
and  this  eternal  fire  which  shall  never  be  quenched, 
have  been  made  abundantly  useful  in  the  providence 
of  God  to  lay  a powerful  restraint  on  the  unruly 
vices  of  some  sinners,  who  have  never  been  awa- 
kened and  drawn  into  saving  penitence,  or  reclaimed 
to  a life  of  sincere  holiness.  And  if  the  restraint  of 
this  terror  were  taken  away,  how  much  more  would 
all  iniquity  abound  among  those  who  have  no  inward 
principle  of  goodness? 

Let  us  proceed  then  to  preach  the  same  terror 
which  the  blessed  Jesus  thought  not  unworthy  of  his 
ministry  ; and  may  the  providence  and  the  grace  of 
God  give  success  to  our  labours,  both  for  the  re- 
straining the  extravagant  vices  of  the  wicked,  for  the 
saving  conversion  of  many  sinners,  and  for  a guard 
and  restraint  to  the  young  and  wavering  Christians.* 

* The  late  doctor  Thomas  Burnett,  in  his  Latin  treatise  of  the 
State  of  the  Dead,  and  those  who  rise  again,  opposes  the  doctrine 
of  the  eternity  of  future  punishments,  and  shows  which  ol  t lie  an- 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  HELL. 


405 


Notwithstanding  all  the  express  language  of  scrip- 
ture on  our  side  of  the  question,  and  all  our  argu- 
ments drawn  from  it;  yet  there  are  some  of  the  rea- 
soners  and  the  disputers  of  this  world,  who  will  still 
suppose  that  it  is  more  for  the  honour  of  God,  and 
for  the  glory  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  for  ministers  to 
dwell  always  upon  the  promises  of  the  new  covenant, 
and  the  riches  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  the  over- 
flowing measures  of  the  love  of  God,  in  order  to  save 
sinful  men.  “Surely,”  say  they,  “preachers  have 
tried  long  enough  what  the  words  of  terror  will  do; 
let  us  now  allure  sinful  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God 
by  a ministry  of  universal  love  and  grace;  and  let  us 
see  whether  the  boundless  compassions  of  a God,  in 
putting  a final  period  to  the  miseries  of  his  guilty 
creatures  after  a certain  number  of  years,  will  not 
draw  sinners  with  a sweeter  violence  to  the  love  and 
obedience  of  their  Maker,  than  all  this  doctrine  of 
severity  and  terror.” 

cient  fathers  seem  to  have  been  of  the  same  opinion  with  him : 
but  he  tells  us,  that  these  ancient  fathers,  when  they  treated  of 
this  subject,  often  gave  the  samo^dvice  to  others,  which  he  him- 
self gives  in  these  words : “ Whatsoever  you  determine  within 
yourself,  and  in  your  own  breast,  concerning  these  punishments, 
whether  they  are  eternal  or  not,  yet  you  ought  to  use  the  com- 
mon doctrine  and  the  common  language  when  you  preach  or 
speak  to  the  people,  especially  those  of  the  lower  rank,  who  are 
ready  to  run  headlong  into  vice,  and  are  to  be  restrained  from 
evil  only  by  the  fear  of  punishment : and  even  among  good  Chris- 
tians, there  are  infants  to  be  nourished  with  milk;  nor  is  their 
diet  to  be  rashly  changed,  lest  through  intemperance  they  fall 
into  diseases.” 

And  he  adds  in  the  margin,  “ Whosoever  shall  translate  these 
sentiments  into  our  mother  tongue,  I shall  think  it  was  done  with 
an  evil  design  and  to  bad  purpose.”  So  that  if  this  were  a true 
doctrine,  yet  the  learned  author  agrees,  that  neither  the  holy  wri- 
ters  of  the  Bible,  nor  the  fathers,  think  it  proper  that  the  bulk 
of  the  people  should  know  it.  But  if  it  should  not  be  translated, 
I would  ask,  why  did  the  author  write  it,  and  leave  it  to  be  pub- 
lished 1 Did  he  suppose  all  men  and  boys,  who  understood  Latin, 
to  be  sufficiently  guarded  against  the  abuse  of  such  an  opinion. 


406  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF  THE 

In  the  first  place  I answer,  That  surely  Jesus  him- 
self, who  is  the  prime  minister  of  his  Father’s  king- 
dom, and  the  divinest  messenger  of'  his  love,  knew 
better  than  we  do  how  to  pay  the  highest  honour  to 
his  heavenly  Father,  and  to  display  his  own  grace. 
Surely  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  best  way  to 
begin  with  sinners  in  order  to  their  reconciliation  to 
God,  and  knew  also  the  most  effectual  avenues  to 
the  consciences  of  sinful  creatures,  incomparably  be- 
yond what  any  of  us  can  pretend  to.  Had  he  not 
as  tender  a sense  of  the  honour  of  his  Father’s  mercy, 
as  warm  a zeal  for  the  glory  of  his  own  grace  and 
gospel,  and  as  wise  and  melting  a compassion  for 
the  souls  of  men  as  the  best  of  us  can  boast  of? 
And  yet  he  thought  it  proper  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  his  own,  and  his  apostles’  ministrations  of  grace, 
in  this  language  of  terror,  in  these  threatenings  of 
eternal  punishment.  And  in  the  course  of  his  pro- 
vidence throughout  all  ages  he  has,  in  some  mea- 
sure, made  this  doctrine  successful  to  recover  souls 
from  the  snares  of  the  devil,  and  to  enlarge  his  own 
heavenly  kingdom. 

But  I answer  farther,  I#  must  be  granted  that  the 
tempers  of  men  are  various,  and  it  is  possible  that 
some  may  be  of  so  ingenuous  and  refined  a disposi- 
tion, that  the  words  of  love  and  grace,  without  any 
terror,  might  reach  their  hearts,  and  through  the  in- 
fluences of  Heaven,  touch  them  effectually  ; but  as 
for  the  bulk  of  mankind,  while  they  continue  in 
their  sins,  daily  experience  convinceth  us,  that  they 
are  best  awakened  by  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  by  a 
representation  of  the  worm  which  never  dies,  and 
the  fire  which  shall  not  be  quenched.  I never  knew 
but  one  person  in  the  whole  course  of  my  ministry 
who  acknowledged,  that  the  first  motions  of  religion 
in  their  own  heart  arose  from  a sense  of  the  good- 
ness of  God,  and  that  they  were  gently  and  sweetly 
led  at  first  to  this  inquiry,  “What  shall  I render  to 


PUNISHMENTS  OP  HELL. 


407 


the  Lord  who  hath  dealt  so  bountifully  with  me?” 
But  I think  all  besides,  who  have  come  within  my 
notice,  have  rather  been  first  awakened  by  the  pas- 
sion of  fear  to  fly  from  the  wrath  to  come. 

If  therefore  we  will  practise  according  to  the  ex- 
ample of  Jesus,  the  greatest  and  the  wisest  prophet 
of  his  church,  and  his  holy  apostles,  and  the  best  of 
preachers  in  all  ages  who  have  followed  him,  if  we 
would  obey  the  dictates  of  long  experience,  and  our 
best  observations  on  the  methods  of  converting  grace, 
I think  we  must  proceed  to  denounce  these  eternal 
terrors  of  the  Lord  against  the  transgressors  of  his 
law  and  the  despisers  of  his  gospel.  This  seems  to 
be  the  appointed  and  most  effectual  way  to  rouse  their 
consciences  to  seek  a deliverance  from  the  curses  of 
the  law,  which  carry  in  them  everlasting  punishment. 
This  appears  to  be  the  first  spring  of  religion  in  sin- 
ful men,  and  the  first  motive  to  receive  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  which  are  displayed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. This  spurs  on  their  passions  to  escape  the 
vengeance  of  God,  by  flying  to  his  gospel,  where  there 
is  rich  and  abundant  grace  to  encourage  the  hope  of 
rebellious  creatures  in  theSr  returns  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ  the  Saviour.  To  Jesus,  who  is  the  awful  mes- 
senger of  his  Father’s  terrors,  and  the  prime  minister 
of  his  love,  be  glory  and  honour  to  everlasting  ages. 
Amen. 


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DISCOURSE  XiV, 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH, 


A FUNERAL  DISCOURSE 
In  memory  of  Lady  Hartopp 


INTRODUCTION. 

1 persuade  myself  that  none  of  you  are  unac- 
quainted with  that  mournful  providence  that  calls 
me  to  the  service  of  this  day.*  The  words  which 
were  borrowed  from  the  lips  of  the  dying,  I am  de- 
sired to  improve  for  the  instruction  and  comfort  of 
those  that  live.  They  are  written  in 

1 Cor.  xv.  2G. 

The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death . 

When  a nation  has  lain  for  whole  ages  under  the 
power  of  some  mighty  tyrant,  and  has  suffered  per 
petual  ravages  from  his  hands,  what  gladifess  runs 
through  the  land,  at  the  sure  prediction  of  his  ruin! 
and  how  is  every  inhabitant  pleased,  while  he  bears 
of  the  approaching  downfal  of  his  great  enemy! 
“For  this  is  he  that  hath  slain  my  father  or  my  mo- 
ther, my  children,  or  my  dearest  relatives,  and  is 

* Nov.  9th,  1711,  Lady  Hartopp  died,  and  this  discourse  was 
delivered  at  Stoke -Newington,  November  the  twenty -fifth  fol 
lowing. 


410  THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH, 

still  making  havoc  of  the  remnant  of  my  friends, 
while  I myself  stand  in  hourly  danger.”  This  plea- 
sure grows  up  into  more  perfect  joy,  when  we  are 
assured  this  is  the  last  tyrant  that  shall  arise,  the 
last  enemy  that  shall  afflict  us;  for  he  shall  have  no 
successor,  and  we  shall  be  for  ever  free.  Such 
should  be  the  rejoicing  of  all  the  saints,  when  they 
hear  so  desirable  and  divine  a promise  as  the  words 
of  my  text;  “The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed 
is  death.” 

To  improve  this  glorious  proposition,  let  us  con- 
sider these  four  things,  with  a reflection  or  two  upon 
each  of  them. 

I.  How  death  appears  to  be  an  enemy  to  the 
saints. 

II.  Why  it  is  called  the  last  enemy,  or  the  last 
that  shall  be  destroyed. 

III.  How  it  is  to  be  destroyed,  and  what  are  the 
steps  or  gradual  efforts  towards  its  destruction. 

IV.  What  are  the  advantages  that  the  saints  re 
ceive  by  the  destruction  of  this  last  enemy. 

SECTION  I. 

Death  an  enemy  even  to  good  men . 

The  first  inquiry  is,  How,  or  in  what  sense  death 
appears  to  be  an  enemy  to  the  saints. 

That  it  is  in  general  an  enemy  to  human  nature, 
is  sufficiently  evident  from  its  first  introduction  into 
the  world ; for  it  was  brought  in  as  an  execution  of 
the  first  threatening  given  to  Adam  in  Paradise, 
Gen.  ii.  17 : “In  the  day  thou  eatest  thou  shalt  die.” 
It  came  in  as  a punishment  for  sin,  and  every  pu- 
nishment in  some  respect  opposes  our  interest  and 
our  happiness.  When  it  seized  on  man  at  first,  and 
planted  the  seeds  of  mortality  in  his  nature,  he  then 


THE  CONQUEST  OVElt  DEATH. 


411 


began  to  be  deprived  of  that  peace  and  health,  that 
vigour  and  immortality  which  he  possessed  before 
his  fall,  till  at  last  it  brought  him  down  to  the  dust; 
and  ever  since,  all  the  sons  of  Adam  have  found  and 
felt  it  an  enemy  to  their  natures. 

To  sinners  indeed  it  is  an  enemy  in  a more  dread- 
ful sense,  and  its  attendants  are  more  terrible  a thou- 
sand-fold. For  besides  all  the  common  miseries  of 
the  flesh  which  they  sustain,  it  delivers  over  their 
spirits  into  everlasting  misery;  it  finishes  their  re- 
prieve, and  their  hope  for  ever;  it  plunges  them  at 
once  into  all  the  terrors  of  a most  awakened  con- 
science, and  cuts  them  off  from  all  the  amusements 
and  cares  of  this  life,  which  laid  their  guilt  and  their 
conscience  asleep  for  a season.  Death  consigns  over 
a sinner  to  the  chains  of  the  grave,  and  the  chains 
of  hell  together,  and  binds  and  reserves  him  a pri- 
soner of  despair  for  the  most  complete  torments  of 
the  second  death. 

But  1 would  confine  my  discourse  here  only  to 
believers,  for  it  is  with  respect  to  them  this  chapter 
is  written.  I know  death  is  often  called  their  friend, 
because  it  puts  an  end  to  their  sins  and  sorrows;  but 
this  benefit  arises  only  from  the  covenant  of  grace, 
which  sanctifies  it  to  some  good  purposes  to  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  It  is  constrained  to  become  their 
friend  in  some  instances,  contrary  to  its  own  nature, 
and  original  design;  but  there  is  reason  enough,  if 
we  take  a survey  of  its  own  nature,  and  its  present 
appearances,  to  call  it  an  enemy  still,  upon  these  fol- 
lowing accounts. 

I.  Death  has  generally  many  terrible  attendants 
and  forerunners  when  it  comes;  terrible  to  nature 
and  the  flesh  of  the  most  exalted  Christians. 

Here,  should  I begin  to  describe  the  long  and  dis- 
mal train  of  death,  the  time  would  fail  me.  Shall  I 
mention  the  sickness  and  the  pain,  the  sharp  anguish 
of  the  body,  and  sometimes  the  sharper  methods  of 


412 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


medicine  to  relieve  it,  all  which  prove  useless  and 
vain  in  that  day?  Shall  I recount  the  tedious  and 
uneasy  hours,  thtf  tiresome  and  sleepless  nights,  when 
the  patient  longs  for  the  slow  return  of  the  morning: 
and  still  when  the  light  breaks,  he  finds  new  uneasi- 
ness, and  wishes  for  the  shadow  and  darkness  again? 
Shall  I speak -of  the  dulness  of  the  natural  spirits, 
and  the  clogs  that  hang  heavy  upon  the  soul  in  those 
hours;  so  that  the  better  part  of  man  is  bound  and 
oppressed  and  shut  up,  and  cannot  exert  itself  agree- 
able to  the  character  of  an  intellectual  being? 

Besides  all  the  designs  of  the  mind  are  interrupted 
and  broken  in  death;  all  that  the  saint  intended  to 
do  for  God,  is  cut  off  at  once,  and  his  holy  purposes 
are  precluded,  which  often  adds  to  the  trouble  of  a 
dying  Christian?  Psal.  cxlvi.  4:  “When  man  re- 
turns to  his  earth,  in  that  very  day  his  thoughts 
perish.’’ 

Shall  I put  you  in  mind  of  the  sighs  and  sorrows 
of  dearest  friends  that  stand  around  the  bed  all  in 
tears,  and  all  despairing?  Shall  I speak  of  the  last 
convulsions  of  nature,  the  sharp  conflict  of  the  ex- 
treme moments  and  the  struggling  and  painful  efforts 
of  departing  life,  which  none  can  know  fully  but 
those  that  have  felt  them,  and  none  of  the  dead  come 
back  to  give  us  an  account?  Is  it  possible  for  us  to 
survey  these  scenes  of  misery,  and  not  to  believe  that 
the  hand  of  an  enemy  has  been  there?  The  bodies 
of  the  saints  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  members  of  Christ,  I Cor.  vi.  15,  19.  Death 
murders  these  bodies,  these  members  of  the  Lord, 
and  ruins  these  temples  to  the  dust,  and  may  well 
be  called  their  enemy  upon  this  account. 

2.  Death  acts  like  an  enemy  when  it  makes  a 
separation  between  the  soul  and  the  body.  It  di- 
vides the  nature  of  man  in  halves,  and  tears  the  two 
constituent  parts  of  it  asunder. 

Though  this  becomes  an  advantage  to  the  soul  of 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


413 


the  saint  through  the  covenant  and  appointment  of 
grace,  yet  to  have  such  an  intimate  union  dissolved, 
between  flesh  and  spirit,  carries  something  of  terror 
in  it;  and  there  may  be  an  innocent  reluctance  in 
the  nature  of  the  best  Christian  against  such  an 
enemy  as  this;  therefore  St.  Paul,  in  2 Cor.  v.  4, 
does  not  directly  desire  to  be  unclothed,  but  rather 
to  be  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might  be  swallow- 
ed up  of  life;  that  is,  to  be  translated  at  once  into  an 
immortal  state.  The  soul  and  body  have  been  long 
acquainted  with  each  other,  and  the  soul  has  per- 
formed almost  all  its  operations  by  the  use  of  the 
senses  and  the  limbs ; it  sees  by  the  eye,  it  hears  by 
the  ear,  it  acts  by  the  hand,  and  by  the  tongue  it 
converses.  Now  to  be  separated  at  once  from  all 
these,  and  to  be  at  once  conveyed  into  a new  strange 
world,  a strange  and  unknowm  state,  both  of  being 
and  action,  has  something  in  it  so  surprising,  that  it 
is  a little  frightful  to  the  nature  of  man,  even  when 
he  is  sanctified  and  fitted  for  heaven. 

And  as  the  soul  is  dismissed  by  death  into  a state 
of  separation,  so  the  body,  like  a fallen  tabernacle,  is 
forsaken,  lies  uninhabited  and  desolate.  Shall  I 
lead  your  thoughts  back  to  the  bed  where  your  dear 
relatives  expired  ? and  give  you  a sight  of  the  dead, 
whose  beauty  is  turning  apace  into  corruption,  and 
all  the  loveliness  of  countenance  fled  for  ever  ? The 
body,  that  curious  engine  of  divine  workmanship,  is 
become  a moveless  lump ; death  sits  heavy  upon  it, 
and  the  sprightliness  and  vigour  of  life  is  perished  in 
every  feature  and  in  every  limb.  Shall  we  go  down 
to  the  dark  chambers  of  the  grave,  where  each  of  the 
dead  lie  in  their  cold  mansions  in  beds  of  darkness 
and  dust?  The  shadows  of  a long  evening  are 
stretched  over  them,  the  curtains  of  a deep  midnight 
are  drawn  around  them,  the  worm  lies  under  them, 
and  the  worm  covers  them. 

A saint  is  no  more  exempted  from  all  these  fright- 

36* 


414 


THE  CONQUEST  OVEIl  DEATH. 


fui  attendants  of  death  than  a sinner  is.  Those  eye  & 
that  have  been  perpetually  lifted  up  to  the  God  of 
heaven  in  prayer,  lie  closed  under  ground.  That 
tongue  that  has  spoken  much  for  God,  in  the  world, 
lies  silent  in  death.  Those  hands  that  have  minis- 
tered to  the  necessities  of  the  saints,  and  those  feet 
that  have  gone  often  to  the  house  of  God,  death  has 
confined  them  in  his  chains.  Those  natural  powers 
that  have  been  active  in  the  service  of  the  gospel, 
can  speak,  can  move,  can  act  no  more.  But  I need 
not  recite  these  things  to  you,  the  images  of  them 
are  too  fresh  and  painful,  and  sit  too  heavy  upon 
your  remembrance. 

3.  Death  is  an  enemy  to  the  saint,  so  far  as  it 
hinders  him  from  the  enjoyment  of  his  perfect  hea 
veil,  for  it  keeps  one  part  of  him  in  the  grave  for 
many  years  or  ages. 

Let  us  think  of  the  dust  of  the  ancient  martyrs, 
the  dust  of  the  apostles,  and  the  holy  prophets;  let 
us  look  many  ages  backward  to  the  dust  of  David, 
and  Abraham,  and  Noah,  to  the  dust  of  Adam  the 
first  of  men;  how  long  have  their  souls  waited  in 
heaven,  as  it  were  in  a widowed  estate?  How  long 
has  their  flesh  been  mingled  with  common  earth,  and 
lain  confined  under  the  bands  of  death,  useless  to  all 
the  glorious  purposes  of  their  formation,  and  their 
being?  A tedious  extent  of  time!  Four  or  five 
thousand  years,  wherein  they  have  done  nothing  for 
God  in  the  body,  and  in  the  body  received  nothing 
from  God  ? For  death  hinders  a believer  from  some 
of  the  business  of  heaven,  and  some  of  the  blessed- 
ness of  it. 

(1.)  From  some  of  the  business  of  heaven  : it  is 
only  the  soul  that  is  then  received  to  glory,  and  dwells 
there  alone  for  a season,  while  death  keeps  the  body 
prisoner  in  the  grave ; it  is  only  the  soul  that  glorifies 
its  Maker  in  that  upper  world,  the  world  of  spirits, 
for  the  flesh  lies  silent  in  the  dust,  the  grave  cannot 
praise  thee,  death  cannot  celebrate  thee,  O Lord  ; 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH,  415 

Isa.  xxxviii.  18.  The  body  is  redeemed  with  the 
blood  of  Christ  as  well  as  the  soul,  but  death  puts  fet- 
ters upon  it,  and  forbids  it  to  serve  its  Redeemer. 

(2.)  The  believer  is  restrained  also  by  death  from 
some  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven;  it  is  only  the 
soul  enjoys  the  delight,  and  that  too  only  in  its  ab- 
stracted nature,  and  pure  intellectual  capacity;  it  is 
cut  off  by  death  from  all  that  rich  variety  of  pleasure 
which  rises  from  its  communion  with  so  noble  a frame 
as  is  the  body  of  man.  It  has  no  senses  to  receive 
the  satisfactions  that  arise  from  the  material  part  of 
heaven;  it  has  no  eyes  to  behold  the  glorified  flesh 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  no  ears  to  hear  his  voice; 
no  tongue  to  converse  with  its  Saviour.  And  though 
we  are  sure  there  is  a holy  correspondence  between 
Christ  Jesus  and  separate  souls,  for  we  are  said  to  be 
present  with  the  Lord  when  we  are  absent  from  the 
body,  2 Cor.  v.  8,  yet  this  correspondence  cannot  be 
so  complete  and  glorious,  as  it  shall  be,  when  with 
our  eyes  we  shall  see  Cod  in  the  form  of  a man. 

It  is  granted,  that  the  separate  heaven  of  souls  is 
abundant  pleasure  beyond  what  we  can  now  conceive 
or  express;  and  our  friends,  departed  in  the  faith, 
enjoy  the  delightful  presence  of  their  Lord,  and  the 
heavenly  converse  of  their  fellow-spirits.  That  ho- 
noured and  deceased  saint,  whom  we  this  day  mourn, 
dwells  with  that  Jesus  with  whom  she  had  long  , 
been  acquainted;  she  converses  with  him  in  heaven, 
whom  she  loved  much  upon  earth;  she  finds  her 
self  safe  for  ever  in  his  hands,  to  whose  care  she 
committed  her  immortal  concerns;  and  she~rejoices 
in  the  sight  of  him  above,  with  whom  she  held  many 
hours  of  sweet  correspondence  by  faith  here  below. 
Doubtless  also,  she  holds  sweet  conversation  with  the 
holy  souls  that  went  to  heaven  before  her.  A soul  so 
greatly  desirous  of  spiritual  discourse  as  she  was,  so 
constantly  prepared  for  pious  conference  and  mutual 
communications;  of  sacred  knowledge,  must  needs 


416  THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 

enjoy  that  privilege  and  that  pleasure,  in  that  upper 
world,  where  there  is  nothing  all  around  her,  but 
what  is  holy  and  divine.  But  it  is  certain  she  can- 
not enjoy  that  perfection  of  humble  society  with 
Christ  in  his  glorified  human  nature,  nor  with  fellow 
saints,  while  she  is  deprived  of  one  part  of  herself, 
her  body  lying  silent  and  moveless  in  the  prison  of 
the  grave ; and  she  yet  waits  for  the  more  complete 
satisfaction  of  all  her  hopes,  when  death,  her  last 
enemy,  shall  be  destroyed,  and  her  body  redeemed 
from  the  dust,  together  with  the  bodies  of  all  the 
saints.  This  leads  me  to  the  next  particular. 

4.  Death  is  an  enemy  to  believers,  because  it  di- 
vides them  for  a season  from  the  company  of  their 
known  and  valuable  friends,  and  parts  the  dearest 
relatives  asunder. 

Though  dying  saints  are  transmitted  into  better 
company,  even  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  per- 
fect, yet  it  is  a mournful  thought  to  be  separated  so 
long  from  those  whom  they  loved  with  so  strong  and 
just  an  affection.  It  adds  a sharpness  even  to  the 
last  agonies,  when  we  think  we  must  leave  parents, 
children  or  friends  behind  us,  whom  we  love  so  ten- 
derly; that  we  must  leave  them  amidst  the  sorrows 
and  the  temptations  of  a vain  world  and  a corrupt 
age;  that  we  must  leave  them  struggling  with  all 
the  difficulties,  the  hardships,  and  the  dangers  that 
attend  a Christian  in  his  travels  through  this  wilder- 
ness, and  not  see  their  faces  again  in  the  flesh,  nor 
converse  with  them  in  the  manner  we  were  wont  to 
do,  till  the  heavens  be  no  more. 

Upon  this  account  also,  death  is  a worse  enemy  to 
those  that  survive,  for  they  sustain  the  greatest  loss; 
it  deprives  them  of  their  dear  and  delightful  relatives 
without  any  recompense;  for  the  world  grows  so  much 
the  more  undesirable  to  a saint  by  the  death  of  every 
friend.  Children  are  torn  away  from  the  embraces 
of  their  parents,  and  the  wife  is  seized  from  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH.  417 

bosom.  This  is,  as  it  were,  tearing  the  flesh  asunder 
of  those  whose  hearts  are  joined  ; this  gives  occasion 
to  bitter  sorrows,  to  long  and  heavy  complaints. 
How  suddenly  are  we  sometimes  deprived  of  the  de- 
sires of  the  eyes,  and  the  comforts  of  life,  the  orna- 
ments and  the  supports  of  our  earthly  state?  And 
we  have  lost  all  their  love,  and  their  counsel,  and 
their  care;  all  their  sweet  sympathy  of  joys  and  sor- 
rows, all  their  agreeable  conversation  and  heavenly 
advice.  What  a tedious  way  have  we  to  walk 
through  without  such  a guide  or  helper?  We  have 
lost  the  benefit  of  their  watchful  eye,  their  holy  jea- 
lousy for  our  souls,  their  fervent  and  daily  prayers. 
But  there  are  records  in  heaven,  where  all  the  prayers 
of  the  saints  are  kept;  and  God  often  turns  over  his 
register,  and  in  distant  successive  years,  pours  down 
blessings  upon  the  posterity,  and  multiplies  his  graces 
amongst  them,  in  answer  to  the  requests  that  were 
offered  up  on  earth  by  the  saints  that  are  now  with 
God. 

5.  The  last  reason  I shall  mention  to  prove  death 
an  enemy  to  the  saints,  is  the  terror  that  it  fills  the 
mind  with  long  beforehand.  There  are  but  few  that 
in  their  best  estate  on  earth,  are  got  quite  above  these 
terrors,  and  there  are  none  can  say,  I have  been  al 
ways  free  from  them;  so  that  in  the  younger  days  of 
their  Christianity  at  least,  all  have  been  afraid  of 
death ; and  these  fears  are  enemies  to  our  peace. 
Some  spend  all  their  lives  in  this  bondage  of  fear, 
and  that  upon  different  accounts. 

A Christian  of  weaker  faith  cries  out  within  him- 
self, “How  shall  I pass  that  awful  moment  that  sets 
my  soul  naked  before  the  eyes  of  a holy  God,  when 
I know  not  whether  I am  clothed  with  the  right- 
eousness of  his  Son  or  not,  whether  I shall  stand 
the  test  in  that  day?  I dread  that  solemn,  that  inn 
portant  hour  that  shall  put  me  into  an  unchangeable 
state  of  miseries  that  are  infinite,  or  of  infinite  bless- 


418 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


edness.  How  shall  I that  am  a sinner  stand  before 
that  tribunal  and  that  Judge  in  whose  sight  no  mor- 
tal can  be  innocent?  My  evidences  for  heaven  are 
dark  and  cloudy,  that  I cannot  read  them ; they  have 
been  often  sullied  with  fresh  guilt,  and  I doubt  whe- 
ther I am  new-born  or  not,  or  reconciled  to  God. 
And  what  if  I should  be  mistaken  in  this  affair  of 
the  greatest  moment?  The  mistake  can  never  be 
rectified  ; therefore  I shake  at  the  thoughts  of  death, 
that  hour  of  decision;  for  my  faith  is  weak.” 

Another  saint  of  a strong  and  lively  faith,  but  of  a 
timorous  temper,  cries  out,  “How  shall  I bear  the 
agonies  and  the  pangs  of  death?  Iam  not  afraid  to 
enter  into  eternity;  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  his  gos- 
pel, have  given  me  hope  and  courage  enough  to  be 
dead;  but  I am  still  afraid  of  dying;  it  is  hard  and 
painful  work:  how  shall  I sustain  the  sharp  conflict? 
I shiver  at  the  thoughts  of  venturing  through  that 
cold  flood  that  divides  betwixt  this  wilderness  and 
the  promised  land.” 

Another  Christian  is  too  much  unacquainted  with 
the  world  of  spirits,  with  the  nature  of  the  separate 
heaven,  with  the  particular  business  and  blessedness 
of  holy  souls  departed ; and  he  is  afraid  to  venture 
out  of  this  region  of  flesh  and  blood,  into  a vast  and 
unknown  world.  Though  he  has  a good  hope  through 
grace,  that  he  shall  arrive  safe  at  heaven;  yet  the 
heavenly  country  is  so  unknown  a land,  and  the  val- 
ley of  entrance  to  it  so  dark,  that  he  fears  to  pass 
into  it  through  the  shadow  of  death. 

Another  is  terrified  at  the  thoughts  of  death,  be- 
cause he  knows  not  how  to  part  with  his  dear  rela- 
tives in  the  flesh,  and  to  leave  them  exposed  to  an 
unkind  age  and  a thousand  dangers.  “If  I had 
none  to  leave  behind  me,  I could  die  with  cheerful- 
ness; but  while  I think  of  such  a separation  the 
thought  of  death  has  terror  in  it.” 

Thus  upon  various  accounts  a good  man  may  have 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


419 


fearful  apprehensions  of  dying;  and  that  which  car- 
ries so  much  terror  about  it,  may  well  be  called  an 
enemy. 

Before  we  proceed  any  farther,  let  us  make  two 
reflections  on  the  first  general  head. 

Reflection  1.  If  death  be  an  enemy  to  the  best  of 
men  in  so  many  respects,  then  we  may  infer  the 
great  evil  of  sin;  for  it  was  sin  that  brought  death 
into  this  our  world;  Rom.  v.  12:  “By  one  man  sin 
entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin;  and  so 
death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sin- 
ned.” 

We  are  too  ready  to  conceive  a slight  opinion  of 
the  evil  of  sin,  because  it  is  so  common  to  the'best 
of  men,  and  so  constant  an  attendant  on  human 
nature  daily  and  hourly;  we  entertain  too  gentle 
and  harmless  thoughts  of  it,  because  its  biggest  evil 
is  of  a spiritual  kind  and  invisible;  we  see  not  that 
infinite  Majesty  which  it  dishonours,  that  spotless 
holiness  of  God  which  it  offends,  the  glory  and  per- 
fection of  that  law  which  is  broken  by  it;  we  can 
take  but  short  and  scanty  notices  of  the  injury  that 
it  does  to  God  the  supreme  Spirit,  while  we  are  shut 
up  in  tabernacles  of  flesh.  But  here  in  these  scenes 
of  death,  we  may  survey  the  sensible  and  mighty 
injury  that  sin  has  done  to  the  nature  of  man,  and 
thence  infer  how  offensive  it  is  to  God.  By  our  eyes 
and  our  ears,  we  may  be  terribly  convinced,  that  it 
is  no  little  evil  that  could  occasion  such  spreading 
and  durable  mischief. 

We  cannot  frame  a just  notion  of  what  man  was  in 
his  state  of  perfect  infiocency,  in  his  original  beauty, 
and  honour,  and  immortal  frame;  and  therefore  we 
cannot  so  well  judge  of  the  vastness  of  the  loss  which 
we  sustain  by  sin ; but  we  can  see  and  feel  the  for- 
midable attendants  of  death,  and  learn  and  believe 
that  it  is  a root  of  unknown  poisoned  bitterness,  that 


420 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH 


has  produced  such  cursed  fruit;  especially  if  we  re- 
member that  all  the  sorrows  before  described  fall  upon 
the  saints  themselves,  even  where  sin  is  pardoned,  and 
death  has  lost  its  sting.  But  if  we  descend,  in  con- 
templation to  the  endless  and  unknown  misery  that 
waits  upon  the  death  of  a sinner,  and  say,  All  these 
are  the  effects  of  sin;  how  inexpressibly  dreadful  will 
the  cause  appear!  The  wise  man  has  pronounced 
them  fools,  by  inspiration,  that  make  a mock  at  such 
mischief,  Prov.  xiv.  9. 

Reflection  2.  We  may  here  learn  the  greatness 
of  the  love  of  Christ,  that  would  venture  into  the  land 
of  death,  and  conflict  with  his  mighty  enemy,  and 
yield  to  the  power  of  it  for  a season,  for  our  sakes. 
“ Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a man  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friends,”  John  xv.  13:  “Hereby 
perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  he  died  for  us;” 
1 John  iii.  16;  Rom.  v.  8. 

Many  terrible  attendants  of  death  did  our  Lord 
meet  and  struggle  with  beyond  what  any  of  his  saints 
can  feel.  Death,  like  a lion,  ran  furiously  upon  him, 
as  it  does  upon  a sinner,  its  proper  prey.  He  met 
death  in  its  full  strength  and  dominion,  for  he  had 
all  our  sins  upon  him;  and  death  had  its  own  sharp 
sting  when  our  Lord  entered  the  combat.  There  was 
the  wrath  of  God  wdrich  was  threatened  in  the  broken 
law  to  mingle  with  his  pangs  and  agonies  of  nature; 
this  made  his  soul  exceeding  sorrowful;  all  his  in- 
ward powers  were  amazed,  and  his  heart  oppressed 
with  heaviness:  Mark  xiv.  33,  34.  He  wras  almost 
overwhelmed  in  the  garden,  before  the  thorns  or  the 
nails  came  near  him;  and  on  the  cross  he  complains 
of  the  forsaking  of  God,  his  almighty  Friend,  when 
death  his  mighty  enemy  w;as  just  upon  him;  and 
“All  this  (saith  he  to  every  believer)  I bore  for  thy 
sake:  my  love  was  stronger  than  death.” 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


421 


SECTION  II. 

DEATH  IS  THE  LAST  ENEMY. 

I proceed  now  to  the  second  general  proposed, 
and  that  is  to  inquire,  in  what  sense  death  is  said  to 
be  the  last  enemy,  or  the  last  that  shall  be  destroyed  : 
for  we  may  join  this  word  last,  either  to  death,  or  to 
destruction ; and  in  each  sense  it  affords  comfort  to 
the  saints. 

1.  It  is  the  last  enemy  that  the  saints  have  to 
grapple  with  in  this  world.  The  three  great  adver- 
saries of  a Christian  are  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the 
devil,  and  they  assault  him  often  in  this  life.  Death 
comes  behind  and  brings  up  the  rear:  the  saint  com- 
bats with  this  enemy,  and  finishes  all  the  war. 
Every  believer  has  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  Captain  of  his  salvation.  When  he  first 
gives  himself  up  to  the  Lord;  he  renounces  every 
thing  that  is  inconsistent  with  his  faith  and  hope,  he 
abandons  his  former  slavery,  undertakes  the  spiritual 
warfare,  and  enters  the  field  of  battle. 

It  is  a necessary  character  of  the  followers  of 
Christ,  that  they  fight  with  the  flesh,  subdue  corrupt 
nature,  suppress  their  irregular  appetites,  give  daily 
wounds  to  the  body  of  sin,  Col.  iii.  5;  Rom.  viii.  13. 
They  fight  against  this  world;  they  refuse  to  com- 
ply with  the  temptations  of  it,  when  it  would  allure 
them  astray  from  the  path  of  duty;  they  defy  its 
frowns  and  discouragements,  and  break  through  all 
its  oppositions  in  their  way  to  heaven,  James  iv.  4. 
They  resist  Satan  when  he  tempts  them  to  sin,  and 
vanquish  him  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  word 
of  God,  Eph.  iv.  11,  12,  17;  and  when  he  accuses 
them,  and  attempts  to  bring  terror  into  their  souls, 
they  overcome  him,  and  cast  him  down  by  the  blood 
37 


422 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


of  the  Lamb,  Rev.  xii.  10,  11.  They  are  made  con- 
querors over  these  adversaries  in  the  strength  of 
Christ.  Now  the  pangs  of  death  are  the  last  trou- 
biers  of  their  peace;  death  is  the  last  enemy  that  at- 
tacks therg,  and  some  have  very  terrible  conflicts 
with  it. 

It  was  in  these  agonies,  in  this  sharp  contention, 
the  words  of  my  text  were  uttered  by  that  honoured 
saint  whose  memory  will  be  always  precious,  and 
whose  loss  we  this  day  mourn.  This  cheerful  lan- 
guage of  hope,  among  many  other  scriptures,  broke 
out  from  her  lips.  Thus  lively  was  her  faith  in  a 
dying  hour.  Methinks  I hear  her  speaking  the 
words  with  a firm  trust  in  the  promise;  “The  last 
enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death;”  and  this 
encouraged  her  onward  through  the  few  remaining 
struggles  of  life  and  pain.  It  is  as  if  she  had  said, 
“I  have  given  myself  up  long  ago  to  Christ,  I en- 
gaged myself  young  in  his  service,  I have  fought 
with  sin,  I have  learned  to  subdue  flesh  and  sense, 
and  to  live  by  faith  of  the  Son  of  God ; I have  not 
courted  the  flatteries  of  the  world,  the  vain  shows  of 
life;  and  I have  been  enabled  to  despise  the  frowns 
of  it,  and  been  kept  steadfast  in  my  profession,  in  the 
most  discouraging  and  the  darkest  times.  Through 
the  grace  of  Christ  I have  overcome  the  evil  one; 
there  remains  but  one  enemy  more,  whose  name  is 
death ; and  I trust  in  the  same  grace  still  to  obtain 
complete  victory.”  Rejoice,  dear  relatives,  let  all 
the  friends  of  the  deceased  rejoice,  her  name  is  now 
written  down  in  heaven  amongst  the  overcomers. 

2.  Death  may  be  called  the  last  enemy  because  it 
is  not  utterly  destroyed  till  the  resurrection,  till  Christ 
hath  done  all  his  work  upon  earth,  till  he  has  sub- 
dued all  his  other  adversaries,  and  made  use  of  death 
as  his  slave  to  destroy  many  of  them.  It  is  in  this 
sense,  especially,  that  the  words  of  my  text  were 
written  by  St  Paul,  1 Cor.  xv.  24,  25:  “Then 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


423 


cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father;  when  he  shall 
have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority,  and  all 
power ; for  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  ene- 
mies under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be 
destroyed  is  death.” 

With  regard  to  each  particular  Christian,  all  other 
enemies  are  destroyed  when  he  dies,  for  whither  he 
goes,  they  cannot  come;  he  puts  off  the  body  of  flesh 
and  of  sin  together;  he  leaves  every  corruption  be- 
hind him,  when  he  ascends  to  the  company  of  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  The  smiles  and 
the  frowns  of  this  vain  and  vexing  world,  are  too  far 
off  to  influence  the  inhabitants  of  heaven;  and  Satan, 
the  tempter  and  accuser,  is  for  ever  forbid  entrance 
at  the  gates  of  that  holy  city.  But  death  holds  one 
part  of  the  saint  in  his  prison,  the  grave;  and  though 
the  departed  soul  has  overcome  the  terrors  of  this 
enemy,  and  triumphs  in  this  expression,  “ O death, 
where  is  thy  sting?”  yet  the  body  is  confined  as  a 
prisoner  under  his  power:  “ But  the  hour  is  coming, 
when  those  that  are  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the 
Son  of  God,  and  live.”  All  the  prisons  of  the  saints 
shall  be  broken  to  pieces,  and  burnt  up,  and  the 
keeper  destroyed  for  ever. 

Let  us  make  these  two  reflections  on  the  second 
general  head  of  this  discourse: — 

Reflection  1.  What  abundant  encouragement 
may  we  derive  from  hence,  to  engage  us  betimes  in 
a war  with  all  the  other  enemies  of  our  salvation, 
that  having  overcome  them,  we  may  be  assured 
death  is  the  last  enenvy  we  shall  meet  with;  and 
then  also  we  may  face  death  with  a braver  courage, 
may  conflict  with  it  with  better  success,  may  van- 
quish it  by  a lively  faith,  and  rejoice  in  the  prospect 
of  its  final  destruction.  The  same  armour  of  God, 
the  same  divine  weapons,  a*nd  the  same  almighty 


424 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


assistances  by  which  we  have  subdued  our  former 
adversaries,  sin,  Satan,  and  the  world,  shall  be  suffi- 
cient to  gain  this  conquest  too.  We  cannot  begin 
the  holy  warfare  too  soon  ; none  of  us  are  too  young 
to  be  assaulted  by  death ; but  let  it  come  never  so 
early  in  the  morning  of  our  days,  it  is  the  last  enemy 
that  we  can  fear,  if  we  are  listed  in  the  army  of 
Christ,  and  have  begun  the  glorious  war. 

I would  address  myself  to  the  younger  branches 
of  the  mourning  house,  and  say,  Have  you  had  such 
a noble  example  of  victory  over  sin  and  death  in 
vain?  Will  you  basely  submit  to  the  slavery  of  the 
flesh,  and  yield  tamely  to  the  oppositions  of  this 
world,  which  were  so  bravely  resisted  by  her  that  is 
gone  before  you?  Will  you  love  this  world,  that  is 
at  enmity  with  God,  and  has  ever  been  at  enmity 
with  all  the  saints?  Are  you  content  to  have  your 
names  for  ever  excluded  from  that  honourable  list  of 
conquerors,  where  the  names  of  your  ancestors  shine 
before  the  throne  of  God,  and  are  recorded  with  ho- 
nour in  the  memory  of  his  churches?  Think  how 
dreadful  a moment  that  will  be,  when  you  shall  look 
death  in  the  face,  if  you  have  not  begun  to  wage  war 
with  sin  and  Satan  before ! How  dreadful  to  have 
many  enemies  at  once  assaulting  you  ! the  lusts  of 
your  own  heart,  raging  desires  after  the  enjoyments 
of  this  world,  the  horrors  of  conscience,  the  bulfetings 
of  the  devil,  and  the  pangs  of  death.  What  will  ye 
do  in  the  day  of  such  a visitation  ? And  remember, 
that  though  death  be  the  last  enemy  of  the  saints, 
it  is  not  thus  with  sinners ; it  does  but  transmit  them 
into  the  world  of  damned  spirits,  where  enemies 
multiply  upon  them,  and  grow  more  outrageous. 
Besides  the  bitter  anguish  of  their  own  conscience, 
they  have  the  wrath  of  a God  whom  they  have  long 
provoked,  and  the  malice  of  evil  angels  their  tor- 
mentors, to  conflict  with  to  all  eternity.  “But  we 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


425 


hope  better  things  of  you,  and  things  that  accompany 
salvation,  though  we  thus  speak;”  Heb.  vi.  9. 

Reflection  2.  What  divine  comfort  is  there  in 
my  text  for  aged  Christians  and  dying  saints,  who 
have  been  watchful  and  vigorous  in  their  war  with 
sin,  and  gained  many  victories  over  this  world  and 
Satan,  who  is  called  the  god  of  it!  What  a delight- 
ful view  such  persons  have,  when  upon  the  borders 
of  life!  Bear  up  with  divine  boldness,  ye  heirs 
of  glory,  for  you  have  but  one  adversary  more  to 
fight  with;  let  your  faith,  and  patience,  and  holy 
courage  hold  out  a little  longer,  and  victory  and 
triumph  are  yours  for  ever.  There  is  no  enemy  lies 
in  ambush  behind  the  tomb;  when  you  have  passed 
the  bars  of  death,  you  are  out  of  the  reach  of  all 
adversaries.  Beyond  the  grave  the  coast  is  all  clear 
for  ever;  the  country  flows  with  rich  and  uritasted 
pleasures:  every  inhabitant  is  an  inward  friend,  and 
peace  and  joy  and  love  smile  in  every  countenance. 

Will  an  old  saint  complain  that  he  finds  many  in- 
firmities attend  his  age,  that  his  senses  are  feeble, 
that  his  eyes  are  dim,  that  Satan  now  and  then  arises 
from  hell,  and  casts  a gloom  and  darkness  around 
his  soul,  and  buffets  him  sorely  in  that  darkness? 
Will  he  complain  that  his  natural  spirits  are  heavy, 
that  the  world  is  troublesome  to  him,  and  every  thing 
in  life  painful?  Methinks  it  is  a consolation  equal 
to  all  these  sorrows,  that  he  is  just  entering  into  the 
last  field  of  battle;  the  last  hour  of  controversy  is 
begun;  a few  strokes  more  will  decide  the  strife, 
and  make  him  an  eternal  conqueror.  “Behold  I 
come  quickly/’  saith  our  Lord,  “hold  fast  that  which 
thou  hast  gained,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown;” 
Rev.  iii.  11 


37* 


426 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


SECTION  III. 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  DEATH,  4 

The  third  thing  we  are  to  inquire,  is,  How  death 
is  destroyed,  and  what  are  the  steps,  or  gradual  efforts 
towards  its  destruction. 

The  person  that  has  this  honour  put  upon  him, 
to  subdue  this  universal  tyrant,  is  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;  so  the  words  inform  us  all  round  my  text. 
Though  his  mediation  for  sinners  was  sufficient  to 
have  prevailed  with  God  to  destroy  death  at  once, 
yet  it  was  agreed  upon  in  the  eternal  counsels,  that 
for  wise  ends  and  purposes  it  should  be  done  by 
degrees.  His  blood  was  of  sufficient  value  to  have 
procured  for  his  elect  a deliverance  from  every  enemy 
at  once,  and  a translation  to  heaven  as  soon  as  they 
were  born;  but  it  was  wisely  concerted  betwixt  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  that  we  should  pass  through 
temptations,  difficulties,  and  death  itself;  that  by  feel 
ing  the  sharp  assaults  of  our  enemies,  we  might  be 
better  acquainted  w ith  the  greatness  of  our  salvation, 
and  pay  a larger  tribute  of  thanks  and  honours  to 
our  deliverer. 

The  steps  whereby  death  is  destroyed,  are  these : — - 

1.  It  is  subdued  by  the  death  of  Christ;  its  sting 
was  then  taken  away,  that  is,  the  guilt  of  sin,  I Cor. 
xv.  55 — 57:  “The  sting  of  death  is  sin,  and  the 
strength  of  sin  is  the  law;  but  thanks  be  to  God, 
who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.”  Which  verses  may  be  thus  explained: 
Death  was  the  punishment  threatened  by  the  law  for 
sin,  but  Christ,  as  our  surety,  having  sustained  the 
execution  of  that  threatening,  and  answered  the  law 
by  a satisfaction  equal  to  the  offence,  death  has  no 
more  power  over  him,  God  has  raised  him  up, 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


427 


“ having  loosed  the  pains  of  death,  because  it  was  not 
possible  that  he  should  be  holden  of  it;”  Acts  ii.  24. 
And  as  Christ  by  his  dying  is  said  to  “ finish  trans- 
gression, and  make  an  end  of  sin,”  because  he  has 
taken  away  its  power  to  condemn  believers,  though 
he  has  not  yet  utterly  destroyed  its  being;  so  he  is 
said  to  have  “ abolished  death,”  2 Tim.  i.  10,  because 
he  has  so  far  diminished  and  made  void  its  power, 
that  it  shall  not  do  any  final  mischief  to  the  saints. 
It  is  like  a serpent  whose  sting  is  taken  away,  and 
whose  teeth  are  broken  out;  it  may  fright  us,  and  do 
us  some  injury,  but  it  cannot  inflict  a venomous  or 
fatal  wound.  Now  the  believer,  by  a lively  faith, 
shares  in  this  victory  of  Christ  over  death,  and  gives 
thanks  to  God  for  it.  He  knows  that  though  it  may 
hurt  his  body,  and  bring  it  down  to  the  grave  for 
a season,  yet  it  cannot  send  the  soul  to  destruction, 
nor  confine  the  body  to  the  dust  any  longer  than 
Christ  shall  permit. 

2.  Death  is  taken  captive  and  enslaved  by  Christ 
at  his  resurrection  and  ascension,  and  made  to  serve 
his  holy  purposes;  Psal.  lxviii.  18:  “Thou  hast  as- 
cended on  high,  thou  hast  led  captivity  captive.” 
This  is  spoken  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  has  taken 
into  his  own  dominion  death  and  the  devil,  who  led 
the  world  captive.  The  enemy  is  not  escaped  out 
of  the  hands  of  this  conqueror,  but  is  put  under  his 
yoke,  and  constrained  into  his  service. 

Death,  in  its  first  character,  was  the  very  threat- 
ening and  curse  of  the  law  of  God,  and  includes  in 
it  all  misery?  but  Christ,  having  borne  the  curse, 
has  redeemed  his  people  from  it:  Gal.  iii.  13.  And 
now  he  has  taken  as  many  as  he  pleases  of  the 
threatenings  and  terrors  of  the  law  into  his  own  new 
covenant,  the  covenant  of  grace;  and  has  sanctified 
their  nature,  and  made  them  become  blessings  to 
the  saint;  “He  has  turned  the  curse  into  a bless- 
ing;”  Deut.  xxiii.  5,  so  that  afflictions,  and  pains, 


428 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


and  sorrows,  and  death  itself  are  no  longer  a curse 
to  them,  for  they  are  ordained  by  the  wisdom  and 
grace  of  Christ  to  promote  their  best  interest. 

Death,  in  its  original  design,  was  the  under-ser- 
vant of  God’s  avenging  justice;  it  was  the  jailer  to 
bring  the  soul  out  of  the  body  before  the  divine  tri- 
bunal, there  to  receive  its  condemnation  to  hell.  It 
was  the  executioner  both  to  torment  and  to  destroy 
the  flesh,  and  send  the  spirit  into  everlasting  misery. 
But  Christ  having  answered  all  the  demands  of  this 
avenging  justice,  has  also  purchased  the  sovereignty 
over  death;  and  though  sometimes,  when  it  seizes  a 
saint,  it  may  for  the  present  signify  his  displeasure, 
as  in  1 Cor.  xi.  30,  yet  it  always  fulfils  the  designs 
of  his  love,  and  conveys  them  into  his  own  delightful 
presence;  therefore  as  soon  as  we  are  absent  from 
the  body,  we  are  said  to  be  present  with  the  Lord, 
2 Cor.  v.  8,  and  when  we  depart  from  the  flesh,  it 
is  to  be  with  Christ;  Phil.  x.  23.  Death  was  or- 
dained at  first  to  be  a slave  to  Satan;  by  the  righ- 
teous appointment  of  God,  both  death  and  the  devil 
are  executioners  of  his  wrath;  and  Satan  is  said  to 
have  some  power  over  death,  Heb.  ii.  14.  But 
Christ,  by  dying,  has  subdued  Satan,  spoiled  him  of 
his  destroying  weapons,  has  made  void  his  authority, 
especially  with  regard  to  believers;  he  has  taken 
death  out  of  his  power,  and  manages  it  himself;  and 
thus  he  delivers  them  who  through  fear  of  death 
were  held  in  a long  and  painful  bondage,  ver.  15. 

It  is  in  such  views  as  these  that  the  apostle  says 
to  the  Corinthian  believers,  “All  things  are  yours, 
things  present,  and  things  to  come,”  this  world  in 
the  joys  or  sorrows  of  it,  “ life  and  death,  all  are 
yours,  and  ye  are  Christ’s,”  1 Cor.  iii.  22,  23.  You 
have  an  interest  and  a share  in  the  possessions  and 
the  power  of  Christ  over  all  things,  so  far  as  may 
promote  your  happiness;  Christ  makes  all  things, 
(even  death  itself)  work  together  for  the  good  of  his 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


429 


people,  Rom.  viii.  28.  By  death  he  puts  an  end  to 
the  body  of  sin,  and  frees  the  soul  from  all  those 
ruffling  passions,  those  inquietudes  of  the  blood,  and 
disorders  of  nature,  those  strong  and  perverse  appe- 
tites that  cost  the  Christian  so  much  toil  to  subdue, 
and  brought  him  so  often  under  guilt,  darkness,  and 
sorrow.  By  death  he  delivers  the  believer  from  the 
pains  and  infirmities  of  the  body,  the  perpetual  lan- 
guishings  of  a weakly  constitution,  and  the  anguish 
of  acute  diseases.  He  constrains  death  to  give  the 
weary  saint  release  from  all  the  miseries  of  the  pre- 
sent state,  and  to  hide  him  from  the  fury  of  the  op- 
pressor. The  grave  is  God’s  hiding-place  from  the 
storms  and  tumults  of  the  world;  “There  the  weary 
are  at  rest,  and  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling;” 
and  instead  of  consigning  us  over  to  the  full  malice 
of  the  devil,  death  is  made  a means  to  convey  us 
away  from  all  his  assaults,  and  translate  us  into  that 
country,  where  he  has  no  power  to  enter.  And 
when  the  soul  is  dismissed  into  the  bosom  of  a re- 
conciled God  by  the  ministry  of  death,  the  body  is 
put  to  rest  in  the  grave;  the  grave,  which  is  sanctified 
into  a bed  of  rest  for  all  the  followers  of  Christ,  since 
their  Lord  and  Master  has  lain  there. 

In  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the  name  of  death  is  al- 
tered into  sleep.  Christ,  who  has  subdued  it,  seems 
to  have  given  it  this  new  name,  that  it  might  not 
have  a frightful  sound  in  the  ears  of  his  beloved. 
Though  it  was  sometimes  called  sleep  in  the  Old 
Testament,  yet  that  chiefly  regarded  the  silence,  and 
darkness,  and  inactivity  of  the  state;  whereas  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  in  the  twelfth  of  Daniel,  it  is 
called  sleep,  to  denote  that  there  is  an  awaking  time. 
The  ancient  Christians,  upon  this  account,  called  the 
church-yard  where  they  buried  the  dead,  koimet^rian, 
a sleeping-place.  And  though  the  grave  may  be 
termed  the  prison  of  death,  yet  death  is  not  lord  of 


430 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


the  prison;  he  can  detain  the  captives  there  only 
during  the  pleasure  of  Christ,  for  he  who  is  alive  for 
evermore,  has  the  keys  of  death  and  hell,  that  is,  of 
the  separate  state,  Rev.  i.  18. 

Now  this  is  the  true  reason  why  Christians  have 
spoken  so  many  kind  things  of  death,  which  is  the 
king  of  terrors  to  a natural  man.  They  call  it  a re- 
lease from  pain  and  sin,  a messenger  of  peace,  the 
desired  hour,  and  the  happy  moment.  All  this  is 
spoken  while  they  behold  it  with  an  eye  of  faith  in 
the  hands  of  Christ,  who  has  subdued  it  to  himself, 
and  constrained  it  to  serve  the  designs  of  his  love  to 
them. 

3.  When  it  has  done  all  Christ’s  work,  it  shall  be 
utterly  destroyed.  After  the  resurrection,  there  shall 
be  no  more  dying.  The  saints  shall  rise  immortal, 
and  dwell  in  heaven  for  ever,  in  the  complete  enjoy- 
ment of  all  that  is  included  in  the  name  of  Life. 
As  the  angel  in  prophecy  lifts  up  his  hand,  and 
swears  by  him  that  lives  for  ever  and  ever,  that 
“Time  shall  be  no  longer,”  Rev.  x.  6,  so  Christ 
Jesus,  the  Lord  of  angels,  shall,  as  it  were,  pronounce 
with  a sovereign  voice,  that  “Death  shall  be  no 
more.”  He  shall  send  the  great  archangel  with  the 
trumpet  of  God;  it  shall  sound  through  the  deepest 
caverns  of  the  grave,  and  shall  summon  death  from 
its  inmost  recesses.  The  tyrant  shall  hear  and  obey, 
and  restore  all  his  captives  out  of  prison;  “The 
dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
live,”  John  v.  25,  28,  29:  “They  that  have  done 
good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have 
done  evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation.”  After 
this  our  Lord  has  no  employment  for  death,  his 
slave;  the  bodies  of  men  shall  die  no  more;  there 
shall  be  no  more  any  state  of  separation  between  the 
flesh  and  spirit,  Rev.  xx.  14:  “And  death  and  hell,” 
(or  hades,)  “were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire;”  that  is, 
there  shall  be  no  more  death,  no  grave,  no  separate 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH  431 

state  of  souls,  all  these  shall  be  for  ever  de- 
stroyed. 

Reflection  1.  We  may  infer  from  this  third  ge- 
neral head,  the  great  power  and  glory  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  we  may  learn  the  honour  that  is  due 
to  him  from  mortals;  it  is  he  that  has  subdued  death, 
and  that  by  his  own  dying.  A wondrous  method  of 
victory ! a surprising  conquest ! and  he  lives  for  ever 
to  destroy  it  in  his  appointed  time.  How  great  and 
honourable  must  he  be  in  the  eyes  of  all  mankind, 
who  has  vanquished  so  universal  a conqueror!  How 
desirable  is  his  person,  and  how  delightful  the  sound 
of  his  name  to  every  believer!  For  he  suppresses 
all  their  enemies,  and  shall  destroy  them  even  to  the 
last.  How  well  does  he  fulfil  the  great  engagement ! 
Hosea  xiii.  14.  I will  ransom  them  from  the  power 
of  the  grave:  I will  redeem  them  from  death:  O 
death,  I will  be  thy  plague!  O grave,  I will  be  thy 
destruction!  Repentance  shall  be  hid  from  mine 
eyes.  Let  us  salute  him  the  Prince  of  life,  Acts 
iii.  15,  and  adore  him  under  that  character.  He  dis- 
possesses death  of  all  its  dominions.  He  approves 
himself  a complete  Saviour  of  all  his  saints,  and  a 
Redeemer  of  his  captive  friends. 

Reflection  2.  We  may  learn  also  from  this  head 
of  discourse,  the  power  and  excellency  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  for  it  discovers  to  us  how  this  great 
enemy  is  vanquished,  and  when  it  shall  be  destroyed ; 
and  thus  it  lays  a foundation  for  courage  at  death, 
and  gives  us  assurance  of  a joyful  rising-day.  Death 
being  abolished  by  the  mediation  of  Christ,  immor- 
tality and  life  are  brought  to  light  by  his  gospel,  2 
Tim.  i.  10;  that  is,  there  is  a brighter  discovery  of 
the  future  state,  and  of  everlasting  happiness,  than 
ever  before  was  given  to  the  world. 

Here  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  of  his  gospel,  we 
may  give  a challenge  to  all  other  religions,  and  say, 
which  of  them  has  borne  up  the  spirit  of  man  so  high 


432 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


above  the  fears  of  death  as  this  has  done?  or  has 
given  us  so  fair,  so  rational,  and  so  divine  an  account 
how  death  has  been  overcome  by  one  man,  and  how 
by  faith  in  his  name  we  may  all  be  made  overcomers? 
How  vain  are  the  trifles  with  which  the  heathen 
priests  and  their  prophets  amused  the  credulous  mul- 
titude! What  silly  and  insipid  fables  do  they  tell 
us  of  souls  passing  over  in  a ferry  boat  to  the  other 
world,  and  describe  the  fields  of  pleasure,  and  the 
prisons  of  pain  in  that  country  of  ghosts  and  shadows, 
in  so  ridiculous  a manner,  that  the  wise  men  of  their 
own  nations  despised  the  romance,  and  few  were 
stupid  enough  to  believe  it  all.  If  we  consult  the 
religion  of  their  philosophers,  they  give  us  but  a poor, 
lame,  and  miserable  account  of  the  state  after  death. 
Some  of  them  denied  it  utterly,  and  others  rave  at 
random  in  mere  conjectures,  and  float  in  endless 
uncertainties.  The  courage  which  some  of  their 
heroes  professed  at  the  point  of  death,  was  rather  a 
stubborn  indolence,  than  a rational  and  well-founded 
valour;  and  not  many  arrived  at  this  hardiness  of 
mind,  except  those  that  supposed  their  existence  ended 
with  their  life,  and  thought  they  should  be  dissolved 
into  their  first  atoms.  Aristotle,  one  of  the  greatest 
men  among  them,  tells  us  that  futurity  is  uncertain, 
and  calls  death  the  most  terrible  of  all  terribles. 

If  we  search  into  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  which 
was  a scheme  of  God’s  own  contrivance  and  revela- 
tion to  men,  we  find  the  affairs  of  a future  world  lay 
much  in  the  dark;  their  consciences  were  not  so 
thoroughly  purged  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  but  that 
some  terrors  hung  about  them,  as  appears  from  Heb. 
x.  1 — 3,  and  having  so  faint  and  obscure  notices  of 
the  separate  state  of  souls,  and  of  the  resurrection, 
these  were  the  persons  who  in  a special  manner, 
“through  the  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  life-time 
subject  to  bondage,”  Heb.  ii.  15. 

But  Christianity  lays  a fair  and  rational  fouti- 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH.  433 

dation  for  our  confidence  and  triumph  in  the  dying 
hour.  It  shows  how  guilt  is  removed  by  an  all- 
sufficient  sacrifice ; and  makes  it  evident  that  no 
hell,  no  vengeance,  no  shadows  of  misery  await  the 
believer  in  that  invisible  world.  This  makes  the 
Christian  venture  into  it  with  a certain  boldness,  and 
a becoming  presence  of  mind.  The  doctrine  of 
Christ  shows  us  how  the  sting  of  death  is  taken  away, 
and  calls  us  to  fight  with  a vanquished  enemy,  a 
serpent  without  a sting;  it  gives  us  assurance  that 
we  shall  rise  again  from  the  dust  with  bodies  fresher 
and  fairer,  glorious  in  their  frame,  and  their  con- 
stitution immortal,  for  death  shall  be  no  more.  Ex- 
alted by  so  sublime  a hope,  what  is  there  in  death 
sufficient  to  depress  our  spirits,  if  our  faith  were  but 
equal  to  this  admirable  doctrine?  The  holy  apostles 
are  witnesses,  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  are  wit- 
nesses, and  many  a saint  in  our  day  is  a witness  to 
this  truth,  and  gives  honour  to  this  gospel.  How 
many  thousands  have  met  death,  and  all  its  fright- 
ful attendants,  with  a steady  soul,  and  a serene 
countenance,  and  have  departed  to  heaven  with 
songs  of  praise  upon  their  lips,  a smile  upon  their 
face,  and  triumph  in  their  eyes?  And  this  was  not 
owing  to  any  extravagant  flights  of  enthusiasm,  nor 
the  fires  of  an  inflamed  fancy,  but  it  has  been  per- 
formed often,  and  may  be  done  daily  by  the  force  of 
a regular  faith,  on  the  most  solid  and  reasonable 
principles  ; for  such  are  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ. 


SECTION  IV. 

BLESSINGS  GAINED  BY  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  DEATH. 

The  fourth  and  last  general  head  of  discourse,  is 
an  inquiry  into  the  advantages  which  the  saints  re- 
ceive by  the  destruction  of  this  last  enemy. 

38 


434  THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 

This  is  a large  and  endless  field,  for  it  includes  a 
great  part  of  the  happiness  of  the  final  heaven.  But 
I shall  attempt  to  mention  briefly  a few  of  the  bene- 
fits that  attend  my  text,  and  that  without  a nice  dis- 
tinction of  particulars. 

When  death  is  destroyed,  we  shall  share  in  the 
joy  and  triumph  of  Christ  for  absolute  conquest  over 
all  his  enemies;  for  there  is  scarcely  any  glory  given 
to  Christ,  considered  as  man,  but  the  saints  are  said 
to  be  humble  partners  in  it,  or  at  least  to  enjoy  the 
resemblance.  Is  he  appointed  the  Judge  of  all?  It 
is  promised  also  to  the  saints  that  they  shall  judge 
angels,  and  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  Do  we  suf- 
fer with  him?  we  shall  also  reign  with  him.  If  we 
conquer  death  by  faith,  we  shall  rise  and  triumph. 
Here  we  labour  and  fight  with  many  adversaries, 
and  we  think  we  have  routed  them,  but  they  rally 
again,  and  give  us  fresh  vexation,  so  that  we  hardly 
know  how  to  attempt  a song  of  victory  on  this  side 
the  grave.  Besides,  death  still  remains  for  our  trial 
and  conflict;  but  there  we  shall  rejoice  over  all  our 
enemies,  subdued,  destroyed,  and  abolished  for  ever. 

Then  God  will  be  all  in  all  to  his  saints.  This 
is  a consequent  which  St.  Paul  mentions  in  the 
verses  where  my  text  is;  God  will  manage  the  af- 
fairs of  his  heavenly  kingdom  in  a more  immediate 
way  than  he  has  managed  his  kingdom  on  earth. 
Christ  having  destroyed  all  the  enemies  of  his 
church,  and  presented  it  safe  before  the  Father,  has 
finished  all  those  divine  purposes  for  which  the  me- 
diatorial kingdom  was  intrusted  with  him;  then  he 
shall  resign  his  commission  to  the  Father  again,  and 
the  ever-blessed  God  shall  in  a more  immediate  and 
absolute  manner  reign  over  all  the  creation.  He 
shall  more  immediately  impress  devils  and  damned 
spirits  with  a sense  of  infinite  wrath;  and  with  a 
more  immediate  sense  of  his  love  and  eternal  favour, 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH.  435 

shall  he  for  ever  bless  all  the  inhabitants  of  heaven. 
So  much  as  this  seems  to  be  implied  in  the  words  of 
the  apostle,  1 Cor.  xv.  24,  25,  &c.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible that  in  this  state  we  should  know  either  the 
full  extent,  or  the  just  limitations  of  that  promise, 
“God  shall  be  all  in  all.”  Our  honoured  and  de- 
parted friend  had  these  words  dwelling  upon  her 
heart;  these  were  often  in  her  lips  in  the  days  of 
her  faith  and  hope,  and  in  the  hours  of  her  passage 
through  the  dark  valley;  she  enjoys  part  of  the  plea- 
sure of  them  in  her  present  heaven,  and  with  plea- 
sure she  expects  the  more  absolute  accomplishment, 
when  the  resurrection  shall  complete  the  blessedness 
of  all  the  saints. 

Another  consequent  of  the  destruction  of  death, 
is  the  employment  of  all  the  powers  of  human  na- 
ture in  the  service  of  God,  and  they  shall  be  neither 
weak  nor  weary.  For  all  the  inconveniences  that 
attend  mortality  shall  be  swallowed  up  and  lost  for 
ever. 

Alas,  how  poor  and  imperfect  is  the  service  which 
our  bodies  yield  to  God  in  this  world ! How  heavily 
do  our  souls  complain  of  the  clog  of  this  flesh,  and 
move  onwards  heavily  in  the  discharge  of  duty!  and 
in  the  grave  the  body  is  quite  cut  off  from  all  ser- 
vice. But  when  death  shall  be  dispossessed,  when 
we  shall  arise  from  the  dust,  and  put  on  bodies  of 
glory;  then  with  our  whole  natures,  and  with  all 
their  powers,  we  shall  do  honour  to  God  our  Creator, 
our  Redeemer,  and  our  King.  The  time  will  come 
when  we  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any 
more;  and  the  refreshments  of  sleep  shall  be  no 
more  necessary  to  support  life.  When  death  shall 
be  destroyed,  sleep,  the  image  and  picture  of  death, 
shall  be  destroyed  too.  There  shall  be  nothing  that 
looks  like  death  in  all  that  vital  world,  that  world  of 
immortality.  “ We  shall  serve  the  Lord  day  and 
night  in  his  temple that  is,  continually,  “for 


436 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


there  shall  be  no  night  there. Rev.  vii.  15,  16, 
and  xxi.  25. 

Then  we  shall  taste  all  the  true  blessedness  that 
human  nature  is  capable  of,  and  that  without  danger 
of  excess  or  sin.  When  God  first  united  these  two 
pieces  of  his  workmanship,  the  soul  and  body,  and 
composed  a man,  he  designed  him  the  subject  of 
various  pleasures,  wherein  each  part  should  have 
been  subservient  to  the  other,  to  render  the  felicity  of 
the  creature  perfect.  It  is  sin  and  death  that  have 
entered  into  our  natures,  and  prevented  this  noble 
design  in  our  present  state;  but  the  counsel  of  the 
Lord  shall  stand.  And  when  he  raises  up  the  body 
from  the  grave,  it  shall  leave  all  the  seeds  of  death 
behind  it.  The  faculties  and  the  senses  shall  awake 
in  all  their  original  sprightliness  and  vigour,  and 
our  future  heaven  shall  be  furnished  with  objects 
suited  to  entertain  those  powers,  and  to  convey  in- 
tense pleasure  to  glorified  minds,  without  danger  of 
satiety  or  weariness.  When  the  time  comes  that 
“there  shall  be  no  more  death,  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  our  eyes;  there  shall  be  no  sorrow  nor 
crying,  nor  any  more  pain;  for  the  former  things 
are  passed  away,  and  he  that  sits  upon  the  throne 
shall  say,  Behold  I make  all  things  new!”  Rev. 
xxi.  4,  5. 

Then  shall  we  enjoy  the  constant  society  of  our  best 
friends,  and  dearest  acquaintance;  those  that  have 
arrived  at  the  New  Jerusalem  themselves,  and  have 
assisted  us  in  our  travels  thither.  And  we  shall  de- 
lightfully entertain,  and  be  entertained  with  the  mu- 
tual narratives  of  divine  grace,  and  the  wise  and  holy 
methods  of  Providence,  whereby  we  have  been  con- 
ducted safely  through  all  the  fatigues  and  dangers 
of  the  wilderness  to  that  heavenly  country. 

And  that  which  shall  add  an  unknown  relish  to  all 
the  former  blessings,  is  the  full  assurance  that  we 
shall  possess  them  for  ever.  For  every  one  of  our 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


437 


enemies  are  then  destroyed,  and  the  last  of  them  is 
death.  Here  on  earth  it  is  a perpetual  pain  to  the 
mind  to  think,  that  those  whom  we  love  are  mortal; 
the  next  moment  may  divide  them  from  us  far  as  the 
distance  of  two  worlds.  They  are  seized  on  a sudden 
from  our  eyes  and  from  our  embraces;  and  this 
thought  allays  the  delight  that  we  take  in  their  com- 
pany, and  diminishes  the  joy;  but  in  that  world  all 
our  friends  are  immortal,  we  shall  ever  be  with  the 
Lord,  and  ever  with  one  another  loo,  1 Thess.  iv.  17. 

May  I be  permitted  here  to  make  a short  reflection 
on  that  mournful  providence  that  has  joined  two  love- 
ly relatives  in  death,*  and  gives  occasion  for  the 
sad  solemnities  of  this  day?  The  pious  mother  led 
the  way  to  heaven  but  a few  days  before  the  pious 
daughter  followed,  each  of  them  the  parent  of  a 
reputable  family,  and  the  descendants  from  a pro- 
genitor, f whose  name  is  in  honour  among  the 
ch  u rches.  As  mutual  affection  joined  their  habitations 
in  life,  so  the  care  of  surviving  friends  has  laid  them 
to  rest  in  their  beds  of  earth  together.  We  trust 
they  are  also  joined  in  the  world  of  blessed  spirits  on 
high,  and  they  shall  be  joined  again  in  the  world  of 
glorified  saints  in  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 
Death,  their  common  enemy,  has  taken  them  both 
captives  together;  has  bound  in  his  chains  the 
mother  and  the  daughter ; but  they  are  prisoners  of 
hope,  and  together  they  shall  obtain  a glorious  release. 

I would  copy  a line  from  that  most  beautiful  elegy 
of  David,  and  apply  it  here  with  more  justice  than 
the  Psalmist  could  to  Saul  and  Jonathan,  2 Sam.  i. 

*Lady  Hartopp,  daughter  of  Charles  Fleetwood, "Esq.,  and  wife 
to  Sir  John  Hartopp,  of  Newington,  baronet,  died  Nov.  9,  1711. 
Mrs.  Gould,  their  daughter,  and  wife  to  Mr.  Gould,  (now  Sir  Na- 
thaniel Gould  of  Newington)  died  six  days  after,  namely,  Nov.  15, 
and  left  their  households  behind  them,  oppressed  with  double  sor- 
rows. 

t Charles  Fleetwood,  Esq.,  of  Norfolk. 

38* 


438 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


23:  “ Lovely  and  pleasant  were  they  in  their  lives, 
and  in  death  they  were  not  divided.”  Silent  were 
they,  and  retired  from  the  world,  and  unknown  except 
to  their  intimate  friends;  but  God  was  a witness  of 
their  hours  of  divine  retirement.  The  graces  of 
Christianity,  and  the  virtues  of  domestic  life  (which 
are  the  proper  ornaments  of  the  sex)  were  the  mark 
of  their  utmost  aim  and  ambition;  nor  did  they  seek 
the  flatteries  of  the  court,  or  the  city,  nor  affect  the 
gaieties  of  a degenerate  age.  Humble  they  were,  and 
averse  from  public  show  and  noise:  nor  will  I dis- 
turb their  graves  by  making  them  the  subject  of  pub- 
lic praise.  In  the  hearts  of  their  families,  their 
memory,  their  image,  and  their  example  will  live. 
O may  the  brightest  and  best  part  of  their  image  and 
example  live  in  the  character  and  practice  of  all  that 
are  left  behind ! 

What  a dreadful  and  overwhelming  thought  is  it 
to  suppose  that  any  of  that  honourable  and  numerous 
household  should  be  divided  asunder  at  the  last  day! 
Give  all  diligence  then,  my  worthy  friends,  to  make 
your  calling  and  your  election  sure;  devote  your- 
selves to  the  God  of  your  predecessors;  trust  in  the 
same  Saviour;  tread  in  the  same  paths  of  holiness; 
and  pursue  the  same  glory.  W hat  a joy  will  it  be  to 
that  pious  lady  that  is  gone  before,  to  find,  that  those 
who  were  dear  to  her  as  her  own  soul  have  overcome 
sin  and  death,  and  in  a blessed  succession  arrive  at 
the  same  heaven.  Let  me  entreat  you  to  give  her  this 
satisfaction,  and  not  disappoint  her  prayers  and  her 
hopes.  Let  your  venerable  surviving  parent  (who  is 
now  confined  at  home  under  sorrows  and  sharp  pains) 
obtain  this  pleasure.  Let  that  dear  partner  of  her 
joys  and  cares  behold  the  power  of  religion  appear- 
ing and  reigning  in  all  your  hearts  before  his  eyes 
are  closed  in  death.  Give  both  of  them  this  consola- 
tion at  the  appearance  of  Christ,  that  they  may  say, 
“Lord,  here  we  are,  and  the  children  which  thou 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH.  439 

hast  given  us.  Here  we  are  with  our  ancestors, 
and  our  offspring  and  our  kindred  around  us:  ado- 
ring thy  rich  grace  together,  and  entering  together 
into  the  state  of  perfect  glory  which  thou  hast  pre- 
pared.^ 

It  remains  only  that  I should  propose  some  re- 
flections on  the  last  head  of  discourse,  for  the  medi- 
tation of  this  whole  assembly,  and  especially  for 
those  that  are  engaged  in  the  spiritual  warfare,  and 
proceed  to  daily  conquests. 

Shall  death,  with  all  its  attendants,  be  destroyed 
for  ever?  And  are  these  the  blessings  that  shall 
succeed?  Then  enter  into  this  joy  beforehand  by 
a lively  faith,  and  begin  the  song  of  triumph — “O 
death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O grave,  where  is  thy 
victory?’7  1 Cor.  xv.  55.  “Rejoice  not  over  me, 
O mine  enemy,  when  I fall,  I shall  arise;”  Micah 
vii.  8. 

After  you  have  fought  many  battles  with  Satan, 
subdued  many  sins,  and  encountered  a thousand 
temptations  with  success,  perhaps  you  find  new 
adversaries  still  arising;  look  forward  then  to  this 
joyful  hour,  and  say,  “But  I shall  one  day  be  for 
ever  free  from  all  these  toils  and  labours  of  war,  for 
all  my  enemies  shall  be  overcome,  since  death,  the 
last  of  them,  shall  be  subdued.” 

When  you  feel  the  infirmities  of  this  mortal  body 
hang  heavy  upon  your  spirits,  and  damp  your  de- 
votion, read  the  words  of  this  promise,  and  rejoice, 
“These  pains  and  these  languors  of  nature,  shall 
one  day  vanish  and  be  no  more;  for  death,  with  all 
its  train  must  be  destroyed.” 

When  some  of  your  dearest  friends  are  seized  by 
this  tyrant,  and  led  away  to  the  grave  in  his  chains, 
while  you  are  wounded  to  the  very  soul,  remember, 
that  Christ,  your  Captain,  and  your  Saviour,  shall 
revenge  this  quarrel  upon  your  last  enemy;  for  he 
has  appointed  the  hour  of  his  destruction,  “Mourn 


440 


THE  CONQUEST  OVER  DEATH. 


not,  therefore,  for  the  dead,  as  those  that  sorrow  with- 
out hope,  for  those  that  sleep  in  Jesus,  the  Lord  shall 
bring  with  him”  when  he  comes;  1 Thess.  iv.  13. 
And  he  shall  join  you  together  in  a blessed  and  du- 
rable fellowship,  where  it  shall  be  eternally  impos- 
sible for  enemies  to  break  in  upon  your  peace;  for 
death,  the  last  of  them,  shall  be  then  destroyed.  And 
the  Lord  has  left  us  this  comfort  in  the  end  of  his 
sacred  writings:  “Surely  I come  quickly.”  Let 
each  of  us  with  a cheerful  heart  reply,  “Even  so, 
come,  Lord  Jesus.”  Amen. 


DISCOURSE  XV. 


the  happiness  of  separate  spirits. 


A.  FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


IN  MEMORY  OF  SIR  JOHN  HARTOPP,  BART. 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  a solemn  and  mournful  occasion  that  has 
brought  me  to  this  place  this  day.*  Divine  Provi- 
dence, and  the  will  of  surviving  relatives,  call  me  to 
pay  the  last  sacred  and  pious  respect  to  the  memory 
of  the  deceased  ; a worthy  gentleman,  and  an  excel- 
lent Christian,  who  has  lately  left  our  world  in  a 
good  old  age. 

It  is  something  more  than  ten  years  since  I was 
engaged  in  the  same  service  to  the  memory  of  his 
honoured  and  pious  lady,  when  by  a double  and 
painful  stroke  the  mother  and  daughter  were  joined 
in  death ; when  the  two  kindred  families  were  smit- 
ten in  the  tenderest  part,  and  each  of  them  sustained 
a loss  that  could  never  be  repaired. f 

This  town  was  the  place  which  they  had  all  ho- 

# Sir  John  Hartopp  died  April  1,  1722,  in  the  85th  year  of  his 
age ; and  the  substance  of  this  discourse  was  delivered  briefly  at 
Stoke-Newington,  April  the  15th  following. 

t See  a particular  aocolint,  page  437,  of  the  foregoing  discourse 
in  the  margin. 


442  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

noured  with  their  habitation,  and  spent  the  largest 
part  of  their  lives  amongst  you ; but  they  are  now 
become  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  city,  they  dwell 
in  the  world  of  blessed  spirits,  and  I would  lead  your 
devoutest  thoughts  to  follow  them  thither.  Come, 
then,  let  our  meditations  take  their  rise  from  those 
words  of  the  great  apostle. 

Heb.  xii.  23. 

— The  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

It  is  a much  sweeter  employment  to  trace  the 
souls  of  our  departed  friends  into  those  upper  and 
brighter  regions,  than  to  be  ever  dwelling  upon  the 
dark  prospect,  and  fixing  our  eyes  upon  death,  and 
dust,  and  the  grave;  and  that  not  only  because  it 
gives  us  a comfortable  view  of  the  persons  whom 
we  mourn,  and  thus  it  relieves  our  most  weighty  and 
smarting  sorrows;  but  because  it  leads  us  to  con- 
sider our  own  best  interest,  and  our  highest  hopes, 
and  puts  us  in  mind  of  the  communion  that  we  have 
with  those  blessed  spirits  in  heaven,  while  we  belong 
to  the  church  on  earth.  “We  are  come,”  says  the 
apostle,  ver.  22:  “We,”  in  the  gospel-state,  ‘‘are 
come  to  Mount  Zion,  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  to 
the  innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect.” 

What  sort  of  communion  it  is  that  good  men  here 
below  maintain  with  those  exalted  spirits,  is  not  my 
present  business  to  describe ; therefore  I apply  my- 
self immediately  to  the  words  of  my  text,  and  con- 
fine myself  to  them  only. 

And  here  I shall  consider  these  four  things: 

I.  Who  are  particularly  designed  by  the  spirits 
of  the  just;  and  here  I shall  make  it  evident  the 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  443 

apostle  means  not  merely  the  spirits  of  good  men,  but 
such  good  spirits  as  are  dismissed  from  their  mortal 
bodies. 

II.  We  shall  inquire,  Wherein  consists  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  they  have  arrived,  and  what  are  the  ex- 
cellencies in  which  they  are  made  perfect. 

III.  What  sort  of  perfection  it  is  they  enjoy,  and 
what  are  the  peculiar  characters  of  it. 

IV.  How  they  arrive  at  this  perfect  state,  and 
what  influence  the  dismission  from  their  bodies  has 
towards  their  attainment  of  it. 

And  then  conclude  with  a few  remarks  for  our  in- 
struclftn  and  practice,  suitable  to  the  present  provh 
dence, 

SECTION  I. 

OF  THE  SPIRITS  OF  THE  JUST. 

Our  first  inquiry  is,  Whom  are  we  to  understand 
by  the  spirits  of  the  just  here  spoken  of? 

The  name  of  just  or  righteous  men,  taken  in  a 
large  and  general  sense,  as  it  is  often  used  in  scrip- 
ture, signifies  all  those  who  fear  and  love  God,  and 
are  accepted  of  him.  In  the  New  Testament  they 
are  frequently  called  saints,  believers,  and  children 
of  God;  but  in  both  parts  of  the  Bible  they  are 
often  described  by  the  name  of  just,  or  righteous, 
and  they  are  properly  called  so  upon  these  three  ac- 
counts:— 

1.  Their  persons  are  made  righteous  in  the  sight 
of  God,  having  their  sins  forgiven,  and  their  souls 
justified  through  the  death  and  righteousness  of 
Jesus  Christ.  So  the  word  is  used,  Rom.  v.  18: 


444  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

“By  the  obedience  of  one,  shall  many  be  made 
righteous.”  They  have  seen  themselves  all  guilty 
and  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  God,  they  have  fled  to 
lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them,  they  have 
mourned  before  God  and  been  weary  of  sin,  they 
have  received  the  great  atonement,  they  have  com- 
mitted their  case  by  a living  faith  to  Jesus  the  righ- 
teous, the  Surety  and  the  Saviour  of  perishing  sin- 
ners; and  that  God  hath  received  them  into  his 
favour,  and  has  imputed  righteousness  to  them,  even 
that  God  who  is  just,  and  the  justifier  of  them  that 
believe  in  Jesus.  Now  this  sense  cannot  reasonably 
be  excluded  from  the  character  of  a saint,  though  the 
word  righteous  is  more  frequently  taken  in  the  fol- 
lowing senses. 

II.  Their  natures  are  made  righteous,  ancLsancti- 
fied  by  the  Spirit  of  grace.  They  have  a pnnciple 
of  grace  and  holiness  wrought  in  them;  so  the 
word  signifies,  Eph.  iv.  24:  “The  new  man,  which 
is  created  after  the  image  of  God,  in  righteousness 
and  true  holiness.”  They  were  once  sinners,  dis- 
obedient and  unholy,  as  they  were  born  into  this 
world ; but  they  are  born  again,  and  made  new  crea- 
tures by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Their  under- 
standings are  enlightened  to  see  the  dreadful  evil  of 
sin,  and  the  divine  beauty  of  holiness.  Their  wills 
are  turned  from  folly  and  vanity,  from  the  love  of 
earth,  and  sense,  and  sin,  to  a holy  contempt  of  the. 
world,  and  a hatred  of  all  that  is  sinful;  from  a ne- 
glect of  religion  to  desires  after  God,  and  a delight 
in  him;  from  a mere  formal  profession  of  the  gos- 
pel, to  the  faith  and  love  of  Christ,  and  a zealous 
pursuit  of  holiness;  and  they  place  their  highest 
hopes  and  their  joys  in  things  divine,  spiritual,  and 
eternal. 

III.  Their  lives  are  righteous,  and  conformable  to 
the  will  of  God  revealed  in  his  word.  So  the  term 
righteous  signifies,  1 John  iii.  7:  “He  that  doth 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  445 

righteousness  is  righteous.”  The  just  man  makes  it 
the  business  of  his  life  to  do  works  of  righteousness 
taken  in  the  largest  sense;  to  worship  God,  to  seek 
his  glory,  to  obey  his  will,  which  is  the  rule  of  right- 
eousness ; to  do  him  all  the  service  on  earth  that  his 
station  and  circumstances  admit  of,  and  to  deal  faith- 
fully and  justly  among  men,  and  do  them  all  the  good 
that  lies  in  his  power. 

These  are  the  just  men  whose  spirits  are  spoken 
of  in  my  text. 

Now  it  is  evident  the  apostle  here  means  their 
spirits  which  are  in  heaven,  and  departed  from  these 
mortal  bodies,  because  the  train  of  blessed  companions 
which  he  describes  just  before,  leads  our  thoughts  to 
the  invisible  world. 

If  we  can  suppose  any  part  of  these  two  verses  to 
refer  to  earth  and  our  present  state,  it  must  be  when 
he  says,  Ye  are  come  to  mount  Zion,  to  the  city  of 
the  living  God;  that  is,  the  visible  church  of  Christ 
under  the  gospel  dispensation.  But  then  he  adds, 
you  are  come  also  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  which 
may  probably  include  all  the  inhabitants  of  heaven 
in  general;  and  descending  to  particulars,  he  adds, 
“ to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and  to  the 
general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born,  who 
are  written  in  heaven ;”  whereby  we  must  under- 
stand the  whole  visible  church  of  God  among  men, 
if  we  do  not  confine  it  to  those  who  are  already  of 
the  church  triumphant.  And  next  he  leads  us  to 
God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect;  that  is,  spirits  released  from  flesh  and'blood, 
who  have  stood  before  God  their  Judge,  and  are  de- 
termined to  a state  of  perfection  in  heaven. 

Besides,  when  St.  Paul  speaks  of  fellow  Christians 
here  on  earth,  it  is  not  his  manner  to  call  them 
spirits,  but  men,  or  brethren,  or  saints,  &c.;  there- 
fore by  the  naked  and  single  term  spirits,  he  dis- 
tinguishes these  persons  from  those  who  dwell  in 
39 


446  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

mortal  bodies,  and  raises  our  thoughts  to  the  world 
of  blessed  souls,  released  from  the  wretched  ties  and 
bondage  of  flesh  and  blood,  the  spirits  of  good  men 
departed  from  this  earth,  and  dwelling  in  the  better 
regions  of  heaven. 

I would  here  take  notice  also,  that  the  apostle  per- 
haps in  this  place,  chooses  rather  to  call  them  just  or 
righteous  men,  which  is  a term  used  frequently  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  that  he  might  in- 
clude the  patriarchs  and  the  Jewish  saints,  as  well 
as  the  souls  of  departed  Christians.  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  David,  Job,  Moses,  and 
Elijah,  dwell  in  that  happy  world,  with  a thousand 
other  spirits  of  renown  in  the  ancient  church,  as  well 
as  the  spirits  of  those  that  have  seen  the  Messiah,  and 
believed  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  What  a noble  and 
wondrous  assembly ! What  an  amazing  and  blissful 
society  of  human  souls,  gathered  from  various  na- 
tions, and  from  all  ages,  and  joined  together  in  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  family  of  God  above! 

I shall  proceed  now  to  the  second  thing  I pro- 
posed. 

SECTION  II. 

OF  THEIR  PERFECTION  IN  KNOWLEDGE,  HOLINESS, 
AND  JOY. 

The  second  inquiry  is  this, — Wherein  consists  the 
perfegtion  at  which  these  spirits  are  arrived? 

The  word  perfect  cannot  be  taken  here  in  its  most 
extensive,  absolute,  and  sublime  sense,  for  in  that 
sense  it  can  belong  only  to  God ; he  is  and  must  be 
the  sum  and  centre  of  all  perfection  for  ever;  all  ex- 
cellency and  all  blessedness  in  a supreme  degree 
meet  in  him ; none  besides  him  can  pretend  to  abso- 
lute perfection. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  447 

Nor  is  the  word  used  here  in  its  most  sublime 
sense,  in  which  it  may  be  applied  to  a creature ; 
for  when  the  spirits  of  just  men  are  made  never  so 
perfect,  the  blessed  soul  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
will  be  more  perfect  than  they ; for  in  all  things  he 
must  have  the  pre-eminence,  Col.  i.  18. 

Perfection,  therefore,  is  taken  in  a comparative 
sense  here,  as  in  many  other  places  of  scripture.  So 
St.  Paul  calls  those  Christians  on  earth  perfect,  who 
are  advanced  in  knowledge  and  Christianity  far 
above  their  fellows;  as  in  1 Cor.  ii.  6:  “I  speak 
wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect.’’  Phil.  iii. 
15:  “Let  as  many  as  are  perfect  be  thus  minded.” 
So  that  blessed  souls  above  are  only  perfect  in  a com- 
parative sense.  They  are  advanced  in  every  excel- 
lency of  nature,  and  every  divine  privilege,  far  above 
all  their  fellow-saints  here  on  earth. 

I desire  it  also  to  be  observed  here,  that  the  word 
perfection  does  not  generally  imply  another  sort  of 
character  than  what  a man  possessed  before ; but  a 
far  more  exalted  degree  of  the  same  character  of 
which  he  was  before  possessed. 

The  perfection  then  of  the  spirits  of  the  just  in 
heaven,  is  a glorious  and  transcendent  degree  of 
those  spiritual  and  heavenly  qualifications  and  bless- 
ings which  they  enjoyed  here  on  earth  in  a lower 
measure;  implying  also  a freedom  from  all  the  de- 
fects and  disorders  to  which  they  were  here  exposed, 
and  which  are  inconsistent  with  their  present  fe- 
licity. 

If  I were  to  branch  it  into  particulars,  I would 
name  but  these  three,  namely,  (1.)  A great  increase 
of  knowledge  without  the  mixture  of  error.  (2.)  A 
glorious  degree  of  holiness,  without  the  mixture  of 
the  least  sin.  (3.)  Constant  peace  and  joy,  without 
the  mixture  of  any  sorrow  or  uneasiness. 

Let  us  consider  them  distinctly. 

I.  A great  increase  of  knowledge,  without  the 


448  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

mixture  of  error;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  perfect 
knowledge. 

Part  of  the  happiness  of  spirits  consists  in  contem- 
plation; and  the  more  excellent  the  object  is  which 
we  contemplate,  and  the  more  perfect  our  acquain- 
tance with  it,  the  greater  is  our  happiness.  There- 
fore the  knowledge  of  God,  the  infinite  and  eternal 
Spirit,  is  the  true  felicity  of  all  the  ranks  of  created 
spirits  in  the  upper  and  lower  worlds.  What  un- 
known and  unrivalled  beauties  are  contained  in  the 
attributes  of  his  nature!  What  a heavenly  pleasure 
is  it  to  lose  ourselves  amongst  the  boundless  perfec- 
tions of  his  self-sufficiency  and  eternal  existence,  his 
wisdom,  his  power,  his  justice,  his  holiness,  his  good- 
ness, and  his  truth  ! And  what  a divine  harmony 
amongst  them  all ! 

How  does  the  philosopher  entertain  and  feast  him- 
self with  daily  discoveries  of  new  wonders  amongst 
the  works  of  God,  and  beholds  the  print  of  the  hands 
of  his  Creator  on  them  all!  What  superior  glories 
are  seen  by  the  inquiring  Christian  amongst  the 
greater  wonders  of  his  grace!  and  he  receives  the 
discovery  of  them  with  superior  delight,  for  his 
eternal  life  is  in  them.  John  xvii.  3:  “This  is  life 
eternal,  that  they  may  know  thee  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.”  To  know 
the  Father  and  the  Son  according  to  the  i^velation 
which  they  have  given  of  themselves  in  the  gospel, 
is  not  only  the  way  to  obtain  life  eternal,  and  con- 
sequently the  business  of  the  saints  here  below;  but 
the  knowledge  of  this  Son  and  this  Father  in  their 
natural  glories,  in  their  personal  characters,  in  their 
sublime  and  mysterious  relations  to  each  other,  and 
in  their  most  amazing  contrivances  and  transactions 
for  the  recovery  of  lost  sinners,  may  be  matter 
of  the  most  pleasing  inquiry,  and  delicious  contem- 
plation, to  the  angels  themselves.  I Pet.  i.  12: 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  449 

“These  are  the  things  which  the  angels  desire  to 
look  into.”  And  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect 
are  employed  in  the  same  delightful  work;  for  which 
they  have  much  more  concern,  and  a dearer  interest 
in  it. 

We  know  something  of  God  by  the  light  of  na- 
ture. The  reason  that  is  within  each  of  us  shines 
like  a slender  candle  in  a private  room,  and  gives  us 
some  twinkling  and  uncertain  notions  of  our  Creator. 
The  notices  that  we  obtain  by  the  light  of  grace,  or 
the  gospel  here  on  earth,  are  far  brighter  and  surer, 
like  the  moon  at  midnight  shining  upon  a dark  world, 
or  like  the  rise  of  the  morning-star,  and  the  dawning 
of  the  day.  But  the  knowledge  which  departed 
spirits  obtain  of  their  Creator  and  their  Redeemer 
in  the  light  of  glory,  is  far  superior  to  that  of  nature 
and  grace,  as  the  lustre  of  the  meridian  sun  exceeds 
the  pale  moon-beams,  or  the  glimmering  twilight  of 
the  morning. 

This  is  what  the  apostle  describes,  1 Cor.  xiii.  9 
—12:  “For  we  know  but  in  part,  and  we  prophesy 
in  part.  But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come, 
then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.  When 
I was  a child,  I spake  as  a child,  I understood  as  a 
child,  I thought  as  a child ; but  when  I became  a 
man,  I put  away  childish  things.  For  now  we  see 
through  a glass  darkly;  but  then  face  to  face:  now 
I know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I know,  even  as  also 
I am  known.”  The  imperfection  of  our  knowledge 
in  this  world  consists  much  in  this,  that  we  are  lia- 
ble to  perpetual  mistakes.  A thousand  errors  stand 
thick  around  us  in  our  inquiries  after  truth,  and  we 
stumble  upon  errors  often  in  our  wisest  pursuits  of 
knowledge;  for  we  see  but  through  a glass  darkly, 
but  then  we  shall  know  even  as  we  are  known,  and 
see  face  to  face;  that  is,  We  shall  have  a more  im- 
mediate and  intuitive  view  of  God  and  Christ,  and 

39* 


450  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

of  the  Holy  Spirit,  without  such  mediums  as  are 
now  necessary  for  our  instruction.  We  shall  know 
them  in  a manner  something  akin  to  the  way  where- 
by God  knows  us,  though  not  in  the  same  degree  of 
perfection;  for  that  is  impossible.  Yet  in  these  re- 
spects our  knowledge  shall  bear  some  resemblance 
to  the  knowledge  of  God  himself,  namely,  that  it 
shall  be  not  merely  a rational  knowledge,  by  infer- 
ences drawn  from  his  works,  not  merely  a knowledge 
by  narration,  or  report  and  testimony,  such  as  we 
now  enjoy  by  his  word ; but  it  shall  be  such  a sort 
of  knowledge  as  we  have  of  a man  when  we  see  his 
face,  and  it  shall  also  be  a certain  and  unwavering 
knowledge,  without  remaining  doubts,  without  error, 
or  mistake.  O happy  spirits  that  are  thus  divinely 
employed,  and  are  entertaining  themselves  and  their 
fellow-spirits  with  those  noble  truths  and  transport- 
ing wonders  of  nature  and  grace,  of  God  and  Christ, 
and  things  heavenly,  which  are  all  mystery,  en- 
tanglement and  confusion  to  our  thoughts  in  the 
present  state ! 

2.  This  perfection  consists  in  a glorious  degree  of 
holiness  without  the  mixture  of  the  least  sin;  and  in 
this  sense  it  is  perfect  holiness. 

All  holiness  is  contained  and  summed  up  in  the 
love  and  delightful  service  of  God  and  our  fellow- 
creatures. 

When  we  attempt  to  love  God  here  on  earth,  and 
by  the  alluring  discoveries  of  grace  try  to  raise  our 
affections  to  things  of  heaven,  what  sinful  damps  and 
coldness  hang  heavy  upon  us!  What  counter-allure- 
ments do  we  find  towards  sin  and  the  creature,  by 
the  mischievous  influences  of  the  flesh  in  this  world ! 
What  an  estrangedness  from  God  do  the  best  of 
Christians  complain  of!  And  when  they  get  near- 
est to  their  Saviour  in  the  exercises  of  holy  love, 
they  find  perpetual  reason  to  mourn  over  their  dis- 
tance, and  they  cry  out  often  with  pain  at  their 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  451 

hearts,  “ What  a cursed  enemy  abides  still  in  me, 
and  divides  me  from  the  dearest  object  of  my  desire 
and  joy!”  But  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect 
have  the  nearest  views  of  God  their  Father,  and  their 
Saviour;  as  they  see  them  face  to  face,  so  (may  I 
venture  to  express  it)  they  love  them  with  a union 
of  heart  to  heart;  for  he  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  in 
the  nearest  union  in  heaven,  may  well  be  called  one 
spirit  with  him,  since  the  apostle  says  the  same  thing 
of  the  saints  on  earth,  1 Cor.  vi.  17. 

As  our  love  of  God  is  imperfect  here,  so  is  all  our 
devotion  and  worship. 

While  we  are  in  this  world,  sin  mingles  with  all 
our  religious  duties;  we  come  before  God  with  our 
prayers  and  our  songs,  but  our  thoughts  wander  from 
him  in  the  midst  of  worship,  and  we  are  gone  on  a 
sudden  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  We  go  up  to  his 
temple,  and  we  try  to  serve  him  there  an  hour  or 
two;  then  we  return  to  the  world,  and  we  almost  for- 
get the  delights  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  God  we 
have  seen  there.  But  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect  are  before  the  throne  of  God  and  serve  him  day 
and  night  in  his  temple,  Rev.  vii.  15.  And  though 
they  may  not  be  literally  engaged  in  one  everlasting 
act  of  worship,  yet  they  are  ever  busy  in  some  glo- 
rious services  for  him.  If  they  should  be  sent  on 
any  message  to  other  worlds,  yet  they  never  wander 
from  the  sight  of  their  God:  for  if  the  guardian  an- 
gels of  children  always  behold  the  face  of  our  hea- 
venly Father,  Matt,  xviii.  10,  even  when  they  are 
employed  in  their  divine  errands  to  our  world;  much 
more  may  we  suppose  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect  never  lose  the  blissful  vision,  whatsoever 
their  employments  shall  or  can  be. 

And  as  our  acts  of  worship  on  earth,  and  converse 
with  God  are  very  imperfect,  so  is  our  zeal  and  ac- 
tivity for  God  extremely  defective;  but  it  shall  be 
ever  bright  and  burning  in  the  upper  world. 


4&2  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

When  we  would  exert  our  zeal  for  God  on  earth, 
how  many  corrupt  affections  mix  with  that  zeal  and 
spoil  it!  Dead  flies,  that  cause  that  noble  ointment 
to  send  forth  a stinking  savour!  How  much  of  self, 
and  pride,  and  vain  ambition,  too  often  mingles  with 
our  desires  to  serve  Christ  and  his  gospel!  Some 
have  preached  Christ  out  of  vain-glory,  or  envy ; and 
a mixture  of  those  vices  may  taint  our  pious  minis- 
trations. When  we  seem  to  drive  furiously  like 
Jehu  to  the  destruction  of  the  priests  and  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal,  too  often  the  wild-fire  of  our  lusts  and 
passions,  our  envy,  and  wrath,  and  secret  revenge 
join  together  to  animate  our  chariot  wheels.  When 
we  are  ready  to  say  with  him,  “Come  and  see  my 
zeal  for  the  Lord,”  perhaps  God  espies  in  our  hearts 
too  much  of  the  same  carnal  mixture;  for  Jehu  ex- 
alted the  true  God,  that  he  might  establish  himself  a 
king;  2 Kings  x.  16.  But  the  spirits  of  the  just  are 
perfect  in  zeal,  and  pure  from  all  mixtures.  Their 
very  natures  are  like  the  angels,  they  are  so  many 
flames  of  sacred  and  unpolluted  fire,  the  ministers 
of  God  that  do  his  pleasure,  and  then  hide  their  faces 
behind  their  wings;  when  they  have  done  all  for 
God,  they  fall  down  and  confess  they  are  nothing. 

Temptation  and  sin  have  no  place  in  those  happy 
regions.  These  are  the  evils  that  belong  to  earth 
and  hell;  but  within  the  gates  of  heaven  nothing 
must  enter  that  tempteth,  nothing  that  defileth,  Rev. 
xxi.  27.  It  is  the  mixture  of  sinful  thoughts  and 
idle  words,  sinful  actions  and  irregular  affections, 
that  makes  our  state  of  holiness  so  imperfect  here 
below.  “We  groan  within  ourselves,  being  bur- 
dened;” we  would  be  rid  of  these  criminal  weak- 
nesses, these  guilty  attendants  of  our  lives:  but  the 
spirits  above  are  under  a sweet  necessity  of  being 
for  ever  holy;  their  natures  have  put  on  perfection; 
the  image  of  God  is  so  far  completed  in  them,  that 
nothing  contrary  to  the  divine  nature  remains  in  all 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  453 

their  frame;  for  they  see  God  in  all  the  fairest  beau- 
ties of  his  holiness,  and  they  adore  and  love.  They 
behold  him  without  a veil,  and  “are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,”  2 Cor.  iii.  18.  If 
these  words  are  applicable  to  the  state  of  grace,  much 
more  to  that  of  glory.  They  see  Christ  as  he  is,  and 
they  are  made  completely  like  him,  1 John  iii.  2, 
which  is  true  concerning  the  state  of  separate  spirits, 
as  well  as  the  hour  of  resurrection. 

As  their  love  to  God  is  perfect,  so  is  their  love  to 
all  their  fellow-saints. 

We  try  to  love  our  fellow-creatures  and  fellow- 
Christians  here  on  earth ; but  we  have  so  many  cor- 
rupt passions  of  our  own,  and  so  many  infirmities 
and  imperfections  belong  to  our  neighbours  also  that 
mutual  love  is  very  imperfect.  “Love  is  the  fulfil- 
ling of  the  law/’  Rom.  xiii.  10.  But  we  shall  never 
fulfil  that  law  perfectly  till  we  are  joined  to  the  spirits 
of  the  just  in  glory,  where  there  is  no  inhabitant 
without  the  flame  of  sacred  love,  no  single  spirit  un- 
lovely or  unbeloved. 

In  those  happy  mansions  there  is  no  envy  raised 
by  the  perfections  or  the  honours  of  our  neighbour 
spirits;  no  detracting  thought  is  known  there,  no 
reproachful  word  is  heard  in  that  country;  and,  per- 
haps, no  word  of  reproach  is  to  be  found  in  the  whole 
heavenly  language.  Malice,  and  slander,  and  the 
very  names  of  infamy,  are  unknown  in  those  regions; 
and  wrath  and  strife  are  eternal  strangers.  No  di- 
vided opinions,  no  party-quarrels,  no  seeds  of  discord 
are  sown  in  heaven.  Our  little  angry  jars  and  con- 
tentions have  no  place  there,  and  the  noise  of  war 
and  controversy  ceases  for  ever.  There  are  no  of- 
fences given,  and  none  are  taken  in  that  world  of  love. 
Neither  injury  nor  resentment  is  ever  known  or  prac- 
tised there,  those  bitter  and  fatal  springs  of  revenge 
and  blood.  Universal  benevolence  runs  through  the 
whole  kingdom;  each  spirit  wishes  well  to  his  neigh- 


454  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

hour  as  to  himself;  and  till  we  arrive  there,  we  shall 
never  be  made  perfect  in  love,  nor  shall  we  see  the 
blessed  characters  of  it  described  in  the  scriptures 
fully  copied  out  in  living  examples. 

In  that  holy  world  dwells  God  himself,  who  is 
original  love;  there  resides  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  love  incarnate;  and  from  that  sacred  head 
flows  an  eternal  stream  of  love  through  every  mem- 
ber, and  blesseth  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  land  with 
its  divine  refreshments.  Holiness  is  perfect  among 
the  spirits  of  the  just,  because  love  is  perfect  there. 

Objection.  But  are  there  not  several  graces  and 
virtues  that  belong  to  the  saints  on  earth  that  are 
finished  at  death,  and  can  have  no  room  in  heaven? 
How  then  can  perfection  of  holiness  in  heaven  con- 
sist in  an  increase  of  the  same  graces  we  practised 
on  earth? 

Answer.  Yes,  there  are  several  such  virtues  and 
such  graces,  as  faith  and  repentance,  and  godly  sor- 
row, patience  and  forbearance,  love  to  enemies,  and 
forgiveness  of  injuries,  &c.  But  all  these  arise  from 
the  very  imperfection  of  our  present  state,  from  the 
sins  and  follies  of  ourselves  or  our  fellow-creatures. 
Faith  arises  from  the  want  of  sight;  repentance  from 
returns  of  guilt;  godly  sorrow  from  the  workings  of 
sin  in  us;  patience  owes  its  very  nature  and  exercise 
to  the  afflictions  we  sustain  from  the  hand  of  God; 
and  forbearance  and  forgiveness  respect  the  injuries 
that  we  receive  from  our  fellow-creatures.  But  in 
heaven  faith,  so  far  as  it  regards  the  absence  of  God 
and  Christ,  is  lost  in  sight  and  enjoyment,  as  the  light 
of  a glimmering  taper  is  lost  in  the  blaze  of  sun- 
beams. Repentance  of  old  sins,  so  far  as  it  is  at- 
tended with  any  painful  or  shameful  passions,  ceases 
for  ever  in  heaven;  and  there  is  no  new  guilt  for  us 
to  repent  of:  there  shall  be  no  evil  working  in  us 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  455 

to  give  pain  to  the  spirit;  no  affliction  from  God  to 
demand  a patient  submission;  no  injuries  from  men 
to  be  borne  or  forgiven. 

But  there  is  the  same  pious  temper  still  continues 
in  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  which  was  the 
spring  of  those  graces  on  earth ; and  could  the  ob- 
jects or  occasions  of  them  return,  every  spirit  there 
would  exercise  the  same  grace,  and  that  in  a more 
glorious  and  perfect  manner,  for  their  very  natures 
are  all  over  holy. 

3.  The  last  thing  I shall  mention,  wherein  the 
perfection  of  the  saints  above  consists,  is  their  con- 
stant peace  and  exalted  joy  without  any  mixture  of 
sorrow  or  uneasiness;  and  this  is  joy  and  peace  in 
perfection. 

If  our  knowledge,  our  love,  and  our  holiness  are 
imperfect  on  earth,  our  joys  must  be  so.  The  mis- 
takes and  the  follies  to  which  we  are  liable  here 
below,  the  guilt  that  pains  the  conscience,  and  the 
sin  that  is  restless  and  ever  working  within  us,  will 
bring  forth  fruits  of  present  sorrow,  where  they  do 
not  produce  the  fruit  of  eternal  death.  A saint  in 
this  world  will  groan  under  these  burdens;  and ’it  is 
divinely  natural  for  him  to  cry  out,  “O  wretched 
man  ! who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death?”  Rom.  vii.  24. 

Thus  there  are  many  things  that  are  within  us, 
and  that  belong  to  us  in  this  world,  that  forbid  the 
perfection  of  our  joys.  And  besides  all  these,  we  are 
attached  and  tied  down  to  many  other  uneasinesses, 
while  we  dwell  on  earth. 

This  world  is  a fair  theatre  of  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  God,  but  it  is  hung  round  and  replenished 
with  temptations  to  fallen  man,  proper  for  a state  of 
trial;  soft  and  flattering  temptations,  that  by  the 
senses  are  ever  drawing  away  the  soul  from  God  and 
heaven,  and  breaking  in  upon  its  divine  repose  and 
joy;  and  while  we  are  surrounded  with  a thousand 


456  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

dangers,  we  cannot  be  said  to  dwell  in  perfect  peace. 
The  follies  and  the  crimes  of  others  afflict  the  soul  of 
a good  man,  and  put  him  to  pain,  as  the  righteous 
soul  of  Lot  was  vexed  in  Sodom  from  day  to  day 
with  their  unlawful  deeds,  2 Pet.  ii.  8.  The  greater 
vexations,  and  the  little  teazing  accidents  of  life  that 
attend  us,  disturb  the  sacred  rest  of  the  saint,  and 
ruffle  or  wound  his  spirit.  And  the  best  of  men  on 
this  account  are  sometimes  ready  to  cry  out  with 
David,  Psal.  cxx.  5,  6:  “Wo  is  me  that  I dwell  in 
Meshech,  and  sojourn  in  the  tents  of  Kedar;  my 
soul  hath  long  dwelt  with  them  that  hate  peace.  O 
that  I had  wings  like  a dove,  for  then  would  I flee 
away  and  be  at  rest.”  Psal.  lv.  6. 

And  sometimes  God  himself  is  absent  from  the 
soul  that  longs  after  him;  he  hides  his  face,  and  then 
who  can  behold  it?  We  are  smitten  with  a sense 
of  sin,  and  the  conscience  is  restless.  We  wander 
from  thing  to  thing  in  much  confusion  of  spirit;  we 
go  from  providences  to  ordinances,  from  one  word 
in  the  Bible  to  another,  from  self-examination  and 
inward  guilt  to  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  mercy 
of  the  Father;  and  it  may  be  outward  sorrows  fall 
on  us  at  the  same  time,  guilt  and  judgment  attend 
us  at  once;  the  deep  of  affliction  calls  to  the  deep  of 
sin  at  the  noise  of  the  floods  of  divine  anger,  Psal. 
xlii.  7.  We  are  kept  in  the  dark  for  a season,  and 
we  see  not  the  light  of  his  countenance,  nor  know 
our  own  interest  in  his  love.  We  “go  forward,” 
as  Job  did,  “but  he  is  not  there;  and  backward,  but 
we  cannot  perceive  him,”  &c.  All  the  comfort  that 
a good  man  has  at  such  a season,  is  to  appeal  to  God, 
that  “he  knoweth  the  way  that  I take;  when  he 
hath  tried  me,”  I humbly  hope  “I  shall  come  forth 
as  gold.”  Job  xxiii.  8,  9,  10. 

But  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  are  in 
peaceful  and  joyous  circumstances.  They  know 
God,  for  they  see  his  face;  they  know  that  they  love 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  457 

him,  for  they  feel  and  enjoy  it  as  the  warmest  and 
sweetest  affection  of  their  hearts;  and  they  are  sure 
God  loves  them  too;  for  every  moment  they  taste  his 
love,  and  live  upon  it  in  all  the  rich  varieties  of  its 
manifestation. 

O what  unknown  and  endless  satisfactions  of  mind 
arise  from  a full  assurance  of  the  love  of  God? 
What  tongue  can  express,  or  what  heart  can  con- 
ceive the  sacred  pleasure  that  fills  every  soul  in 
heaven,  under  the  immediate  impressions  of  divine 
love?  When  the  poor  trembling  doubting  believer, 
that  knew  himself  to  be  infinitely  unworthy  of  the 
favour  of  God,  or  of  the  meanest  place  in  his  house, 
shall  be  acknowledged  as  a son  in  the  midst  of  his 
Father’s  court  on  high,  and  amongst  millions  of  con- 
gratulating angels’ 

No  cloud  shall  ever  interpose,  no  melancholy 
gloom,  no  shadow  of  darkness  shall  ever  arise  in 
those  regions;  for  the  countenance  of  God,  like  the 
sun  in  its  highest  strength,  shall  shine  and  smile 
upon  them  for  ever.  And  through  the  length  of  all 
their  immortality,  there  shall  not  be  the  least  inter- 
ruption of  the  sweet  intercourse  of  love,  on  God’s 
side,  or  on  theirs. 

In  that  world  there  is  no  sorrow,  for  there  is  no 
sin;  “The  inhabitants  of  that  city,  (of  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,)  shall  never  say,  I am  sick;  for  the  peo- 
ple that  dwell  therein  shall  be  forgiven  their  ini- 
quity,” Isaiah  xxxiii.  24.  When  the  righteous  are 
dismissed  from  this  flesh,  they  enter  into  peace, 
their  bodies  rest  in  their  beds  of  earth,  and  their 
spirits  walk  in  heaven,  each  one  in  his  own  upright- 
ness, Isa  lvii.  2. 

And  as  there  is  no  sin  within  them  to  render  them 
uneasy,  so  there  is  no  troublesome  guest,  no-  evil 
attendant  without  them,  that  can  give  them  fear  or 
pain ; no  sinners  to  vex  them,  no  tempter  to  deceive 
them,  no  spirit  of  hell  to  devour  or  destroy  ; Isa.  xxxv. 

40 


458  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

9,  10:  “No  lion  shall  be  there,  nor  any  ravenous 
beast  shall  go  up  thereon,  it  shall  not  be  found  there; 
but  the  redeemed  shall  walk  there.  And  the  ran- 
somed of  the  Lord  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion 
with  songs,  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads; 
they  shall  obtain  joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and 
sighing  shall  flee  away.'” 

God  himself  shall  never  be  absent,  and  then  they 
cannot  be  unhappy.  “ They  behold  his  face  in  righ- 
teousness, and  they  are  satisfied  when  they  awake 
with  his  likeness,”  Psal.  xvii.  15.  When  they  leave 
this  world  of  dreams  and  shadows,  and  awake  into 
that  bright  world  of  spirits,  they  behold  the  face  of 
God,  and  are  made  like  him,  as  well  as  when  their 
bodies  shall  awake  out  of  the  dust  of  death  in  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection,  formed  in  the  image 
of  the  blessed  Jesus.  That  glorious  scripture  in 
Rev.  xxi.  3,  4,  (be  the  sense  of  it  what  it  may)  can 
never  be  fulfilled  in  more  glory  on  earth  than  be- 
longs to  the  state  of  heaven.  “The  tabernacle  of 
God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and 
they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be 
with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes;  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall 
there  be  any  more  pain : for  the  former  things  are 
passed  away.” 

The  saints  above  see  their  blessed  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour, in  all  his  exalted  glories,  and  they  are  with  him 
where  he  is,  according  to  his  own  prayer  and  his 
own  promise,  John  xvii.  24,  and  xiv.  3,  “They  are 
absent  from  the  body,  and  present  with  the  Lord.” 
They  have  esteemed  him  on  earth  above  all  things, 
and  longed  after  the  sight  of  his  face,  whom  having 
not  seen  they  loved,  1 Pet.  i.  8,  but  now  they  behold 
him,  the  dear  Redeemer  that  gave  his  life  and  blood 
for  them,  they  rejoice  with  joy  much  more  unspeaka- 
ble and  full  of  superior  glory. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 


459 


Thus  I have  shown  wherein  this  perfection  of 
spirits  in  heaven  consists.  It  is  a high  and  glorious 
degree  of  all  those  excellencies  and  privileges  they 
were  blessed  with  on  earth,  without  any  mixture  of 
the  contrary  evil.  It  is  a perfection  of  knowledge, 
holiness,  and  joy. 

And  canst  thou  hear  of  all  this  glory,  O my  soul, 
and  meditate  of  all  this  joy,  and  yet  cleave  to  earth 
and  the  dust  still?  Hast  thou  not  often  mourned 
over  thy  ignorance,  and  felt  a sensible  pain  in  the 
narrowness,  the  darkness,  and  the  confusion  of  thy 
ideas,  after  the  utmost  stretch  and  labour  of  thought? 
How  little  dost  thou  know  of  the  essence  of  God, 
even  thy  God,  and  how  little  of  the  two  united  na- 
tures of  Jesus  thy  beloved  Saviour!  How  small  and 
scanty  is  thy  knowledge  of  thyself,  and  of  all  thy 
fellow-spirits,  while  thou  art  here  imprisoned  in  a 
cottage  of  clay  ! And  art  thou  willing  to  abide  in 
this  dark  prison  still,  with  all  thy  follies  and  mis- 
takes about  thee?  Does  not  the  land  of  light  above 
invite  thy  longing  and  awaken  thy  desires:  those 
bright  regions  where  knowledge  is  made  perfect, 
and  where  thy  God  and  thy  Redeemer  are  seen 
without  a veil? 

And  is  not  the  perfect  holiness  of  heaven  another 
allurement  to  thee,  O my  soul?  Dost  thou  not 
stretch  thy  wings  for  flight  at  the  very^mention  of 
a world  without  temptation  and  without  sin?  How 
often  hast  thou  groaned  here  under  the  burden  of 
thy  guilt,  and  the  body  of  death?  How  hard  hast 
thou  wrestled  with  thy  inbred  iniquities?  An  hourly 
war,  and  a long  toilsome  conflict!  How  hast  thou 
mourned  in  secret,  and  complained  to  thy  God  of 
these  restless  inward  enemies  of  thy  peace?  And 
art  thou  so*backward  still  to  enter  into  those  peace- 
ful regions  where  these  enemies  can  never  come,  and 
where  battle  and  war  are  known  no  more,  but  perfect 


460 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 


and  everlasting  holiness  adorns  the  inhabitants,  and 
crowns  of  victory  and  triumph? 

0 the  shattered  and  imperfect  devotion  of  the 
best  saints  on  earth!  O the  feeble  shattering  efforts 
of  praise!  What  poor  hallelujahs  we  send  up  to 
heaven  on  notes  of  discord,  and  as  it  were,  on  bro- 
ken strings!  Art  thou  not  willing,  O my  soul,  to 
honour  thy  God  and  thy  Saviour  with  sweeter  har- 
mony ? And  yet  what  a reluctance  dost  thou  show 
to  enter  into  that  world  of  joy  and  praise,  because 
the  dark  shadow  of  death  hangs  over  the  passage  ? 
Come,  awake,  arise,  shake  off  thy  fears ; and  let  the 
sense  and  notice  of  what  the  spirits  of  the  just  above 
enjoy,  raise  thy  courage,  and  excite  thee  to  meet  the 
first  summons  with  sacred  delight  and  rapture. 

But  I fear  I have  dwelt  too  long  upon  these  three 
last  particulars,  because  they  are  matters  of  more  ob- 
vious notice,  and  more  frequent  discourse ; yet  they 
are  so  entertaining  that  I knew  not  how  to  leave 
them.  But  I would  not  spend  all  my  time  on  com- 
mon topics,  while  I am  paying  honour  to  the  me- 
mory of  an  uncommon  Christian. 

1 proceed  therefore  to  the  next  general  head. 

SECTION  III. 

OF  THE  VARIOUS  KINDS  AND  DEGREES  OF  THE  EMPLOY- 
MENTS AND  PLEASURES  OF  HEAVEN. 

Having  shown  that  by  the  spirits  of  just  men  in 
my  text,  we  are  to  understand  the  souls  of  all  the 
pious  and  the  good  that  have  left  the  body ; and 
having  described  their  perfection  as  a state  of  com- 
plete knowledge,  holiness,  and  joy ; the  third  thing 
I am  to  consider,  is,  What  sort  of  perfection  this  is, 
or  what  are  some  of  the  special  characters  of  it. 
And  here  I beg  your  attention  to  some  pleasing 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  46  L 

speculations  which  are  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
God,  and  to  the  nature  and  reason  of  things,  and 
which  have  often  given  my  thoughts  a sacred  enter- 
tainment. 

I.  It  is  such  a perfection  as  admits  of  great  variety 
of  employments  and  pleasures,  according  to  the  va- 
rious turn  and  genius  of  each  particular  spirit.  For 
the  word  of  perfection  does  not  necessarily  imply  a 
state  of  universal  and  constant  uniformity. 

That  the  mind  of  every  man  here  on  earth  has  a 
different  turn  of  genius,  and  peculiar  manner  of 
thought,  is  evident  to  every  wise  observer.  And  why 
should  not  every  pious  mind  or  spirit  carry  to  hea- 
ven with  it  so  much  of  that  turn  and  manner,  as  is 
natural  and  innocent? 

I grant  it  is  a possible  thing,  that  many  different 
geniuses  of  men  on  earth  may  perhaps  be  accounted 
for  by  the  different  constitution  of  the  body,  the 
frame  of  the  brain,  and  the  various  texture  of  the 
nerves,  or  may  be  ascribed  to  the  coarser  or  finer 
blood,  and  corporeal  spirits;  as  well  as  to  different 
forms  of  education  and  custom,  &c.  These  may  be 
able  to  produce  a wondrous  variety  in  the  tempers 
and  turns  of  inclination,  even  though  all  souls  were 
originally  the  same;  but  I dare  not  assert  that  there 
is  no  difference  betwixt  the  souls  themselves,  at  their 
first  creation  and  union  with  the  body.  There  are 
some  considerations  would  lead  one  to  believe,  that 
there  are  real  diversities  of  genius  among  the  spirits 
themselves  in  their  own  nature. 

God,  the  great  Creator,  hath  seemed  to  delight 
himself  in  a rich  variety  of  productions  in  all  his 
worlds  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  Let  us  make 
a pause  here,  and  stand  still  and  survey  the  over- 
flowing riches  of  his  wisdom,  which  are  laid  out  on 
this  little  spot  of  his  vast  dominions,  this  earthly 
globe  on  which  we  tread;  and  we  may  imagine  the 

40* 


462  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

same  variety  and  riches  overspreading  all  those  upper 
worlds  which  we  call  planets  or  stars. 

What  an  amazing  multiplicity  of  kinds  of  crea- 
tures dwell  on  this  earth!  If  we  search  the  anima- 
ted world  and  survey  it,  we  shall  find  there  are  some 
that  fly,  some  that  creep  or  slide,  and  some  walk  on 
feet,  or  run;  and  every  sort  of  animals  clothed  with 
a proper  covering;  some  of  them  more  gay  and  mag- 
nificent in  their  attire  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory; 
and  each  of  them  furnished  with  limbs,  powers,  and 
properties  fitted  for  their  own  support,  convenience, 
and  safety.  How  various  are  the  kinds  of  birds  and 
beasts  that  pass  daily  before  our  eyes! 

The  fields,  and  the  woods,  the  forests  and  the 
deserts,  have  their  different  inhabitants.  The  savage 
and  the  domestic  animals  how  numerous  they  are! 
and  the  fowl  both  wild  and  tame!  What  riches  of 
dress  and  drapery  are  provided  to  clothe  them  in  all 
their  proper  habits  of  nature ! What  an  infinite 
number  of  painted  insects  fill  the  air,  and  overspread 
the  ground!  What  bright  spangles  adorn  their  lit- 
tle bodies  and  their  wings,  when  they  appear  in  their 
summer  livery ! What  interwoven  streaks  of  scar- 
let beauty  mingled  with  green  and  gold  ! We  be- 
hold a strange  profusion  of  divine  wisdom  yearly  in 
our  climate,  in  these  little  animated  crumbs  of  clay, 
as  well  as  in  the  animals  of  larger  size.  And  yet 
there  are  multitudes  of  new  strange  creatures  that 
we  read  of  in  the  narratives  of  foreign  countries,  and 
what  a vast  profusion  of  entertainments  for  them  all ! 
How  are  the  mountains  and  meadows  adorned  with 
a surprising  plenty  of  grass  and  herbs,  fruits  and 
flowers,  almost  infinite,  for  the  use  of  man  and  meaner 
animals ! 

In  the  world  of  waters  a thousand  unknown  crea- 
tures swim  and  sport  themselves,  and  leap  with  excess 
of  life  even  in  the  freezing  seas;  millions  of  inha- 
bitants range  through  that  liquid  wilderness  with 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  463 

swiftest  motion,  and  in  the  wonders  of  their  frame 
and  nature  proclaim  the  skill  of  an  almighty  Ma- 
ker. Others  of  the  watery  kind  are  but  half  alive, 
and  are  tossed  from  place  to  place  by  the  heaving 
ocean.  Think  of  the  leviathan,  the  eel,  and  the 
oyster,  and  tell  me  if  God  has  not  shown  a rich  va- 
riety of  contrivance  in  them;  and  as  various  as  their 
nature  is,  so  various  is  the  means  of  their  life;  pro- 
per beds  of  lodging  are  provided  for  them,  and  va- 
riety of  food  suited  to  uphold  every  nature. 

Mankind  is  a world  of  itself,  made  up  of  the 
mingled  or  united  natures  of  flesh  and  spirit.  What 
an  infinite  difference  of  faces  and  features  among 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  men!  And  how  much 
more  various  are  the  turns  of  their  appetites,  tem- 
pers, and  inclinations,  their  humours  and  passions! 
And  what  glorious  employment  hath  divine  wisdom 
ordained  for  itself,  in  framing  these  millions  of  crea- 
tures with  understandings  and  wills  of  so  incon- 
ceivable a variety,  so  vast  a difference  of  genius  and 
inclination,  to  be  the  subjects  of  its  providential  go- 
vernment! And  what  a surprising  harmony  is  there 
in  the  immense  and  incomprehensible  scheme  of  di- 
vine counsels,  arising  from  the  various  stations  and 
businesses  of  men  so  infinitely  diversified  and  distinct 
from  one  another,  and  centring  in  one  great  end,  the 
divine  glory!  An  amazing  contrivance,  and  a de- 
sign worthy  of  God! 

Now  is  the  pure  intellectual  world  alone  destitute 
of  this  delightful  variety?  Is  the  nature  of  spirits 
utterly  incapable  of  this  diversity  and  beauty,  with- 
out the  aids  of  flesh  and  blood?  Hath  the  wisdom 
of  God  displayed  no  riches  of  contrivance  there? 
And  must  there  be  such  a dull  uniformity  no  where 
but  in  the  country  where  spirits  dwell,  spirits  the  no- 
blest part  of  God’s  creation  and  dominion?  Has  he 
poured  out  all  the  various  glories  of  divine  art  and 
workmanship  in  the  inanimate  and  brutal  or  animal 


464  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

world,  and  left  the  higher  sort  of  creatures  all  of  one 
genius  and  one  turn  and  mould,  to  replenish  all  the 
intellectual  regions?  {Surely  it  is  hard  to  believe  it. 

In  the  world  of  angels  we  find  various  kinds  and 
orders.  St.  Paul  tells  us  of  thrones,  and  dominions, 
and  principalities,  Col.  i.  16,  and  St.  Peter  speaks 
of  angels,  and  authorities,  and  powers,  1 Pet.  iii.  22, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  word  of  God  we  read  the 
names  of  an  archangel,  a seraph,  and  a cherub.  And 
no  doubt,  as  their  degrees  and  stations  in  the  hea- 
venly world  differ  from  each  other,  so  their  talents 
and  geniuses  to  sustain  those  different  stations  are 
very  various,  and  exactly  suited  to  their  charge  and 
business.  And  it  is  no  improbable  thought,  that  the 
souls  of  men  differ  from  each  other  as  much  as 
angels. 

But  if  there  were  no  difference  at  first  betwixt  the 
turn  and  genius  of  different  spirits  in  their  original 
formation,  yet  this  we  are  sure  of,  that  God  design- 
ed their  habitation  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  their  pas- 
sage through  this  world,  as  the  means  to  form  and 
fit  them  for  various  stations  in  the  unknown  world 
of  spirits.  The  souls  of  men  having  dwelt  many 
years  in  particular  bodies,  have  been  influenced  and 
habituated  to  particular  turns  of  thought,  both  ac- 
cording to  the  various  constitutions  of  those  bodies, 
and  the  more  various  studies,  and  businesses,  and 
occurrences  of  life.  Surely  then  we  may  with  rea- 
son suppose  the  spirits  departing  from  flesh  to  car- 
ry with  them  some  bent  and  inclination  towards 
various  pleasures  and  employments. 

So  we  may  reasonably  imagine  each  sinful  spirit 
that  leaves  the  body,  to  be  more  abundantly  inflamed 
with  those  particular  vices  which  it  indulged  here, 
whether  ambition,  or  pride  or  covetousness  or  malice, 
or  envy,  or  aversion  to  God,  and  to  all  good- 
ness; and  their  various  sorts  of  punishments  may 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  465 

arise  from  their  own  variety  of  lusts,  giving  each  of 
them  a peculiar  inward  torment. 

And  why  may  not  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  per- 
fect have  the  same  variety  of  taste  and  pleasure  in 
that  happy  world  above,  according  as  they  are  fitted 
for  various  kinds  of  sacred  entertainments  in  their 
state  of  preparation,  and  during  their  residence  in 
flesh  and  blood?  “He  that  has  wrought  us  for  the 
self-same  thing  is  God/’  2 Cor.  v.  5. 

In  the  world  of  human  spirits  made  perfect,  David 
and  Moses  dwell ; both  of  them  were  trained  up  in 
feeding  the  flocks  of  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness, 
to  feed  and  to  rule  the  nation  of  Israel,  the  chosen 
flock  of  God.  And  may  we  not  suppose  them  also 
trained  up  in  the  arts  of  holy  government  on  earth, 
to  be  the  chiefs  of  some  blessed  army,  some  sacred 
tribe  in  heaven?  They  were  directors  of  the  forms 
of  worship  in  the  church  below,  under  divine  inspi- 
ration ; and  might  not  that  fit  them  to  become  leaders 
of  some  celestial  assembly,  when  a multitude  of  the 
sons  of  God  above  come  at  stated  seasons  to  present 
themselves  before  the  throne?  Both  of  them  knew 
how  to  celebrate  the  praise  of  their  Creator  in  sacred 
melody;  but  David  was  the  chief  of  mortals  in  this 
harmonious  work;  and  may  we  not  imagine  that  he 
is  or  shall  be  a master  of  heavenly  music,  before  or 
after  the  resurrection,  and  teach  some  of  the  choirs 
above  to  tune  their  harps  to  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain? 

But  to  come  down  to  more  modern  times.  Is 
there  not  a Boyle*  and  a Rayf  in  heaven?  Pious 

* The  honourable  Robert  Boyle,  Esq.,  a most  pious  inquirer 
into  nature,  and  an  improver  of  the  experimental  philosophy. 

t Mr.  John  Ray,  one  of  the  ministers  ejected  for  non-conformity 
in  1062.  He  employed  most  of  his  studies  afterward  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  natural  philosophy;  in  collections  and  remarks  on  the  varie- 
ty of  plants,  birds,  beasts,  fishes,  &c.,  and  wrote  several  treatises 
to  improve  natural  philosophy  to  the  services  of  religion. 


466  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

souls  who  were  trained  lip  in  sanctified  philosophy  : 
and  surely  they  are  fitted  beyond  their  fellow-saints, 
to  contemplate  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  works  of 
his  hands.  Is  there  not  a More* * * §  and  a Howepf 
that  have  exercised  their  minds  in  an  uncommon 
acquaintance  with  the  world  of  spirits?  And  doubt- 
less their  thoughts  are  refined  and  improved  in  the 
upper  world,  and  yet  still  engaged  in  the  same  pur- 
suit. There  is  also  a GoodwinJ  and  an  Owen,§> 
who  have  laid  out  the  vigour  of  their  inquiries  in  the 
glories  and  wonders  of  the  person  of  Christ,  his 
bloody  sacrifice,  his  dying  love,  and  his  exalted  sta- 
tion at  the  right  hand  of  God.  The  first  of  these, 
with  a penetrating  genius,  traced  out  many  a new 
and  uncommon  thought,  and  made  rich  discoveries 
by  digging  in  the  mines  of  scripture.  The  latter  of 
them  humbly  pursued  and  confirmed  divine  truth  ; 
and  both  of  them  were  eminent  in  promoting  faith 
and  piety,  spiritual  peace  and  joy,  upon  the  principles 
of  grace  and  the  gospel.  Their  labours  in  some  of 
these  subjects,  no  doubt,  have  prepared  them  for  some 
correspondent  peculiarities  in  the  state  of  glory.  For 
though  the  doctrines  of  the  person,  the  priesthood  and 
the  grace  of  Christ,  are  themes  which  all  the  glorified 
souls  converse  with  and  rejoice  in ; yet  spirits  that 
have  been  trained  up  in  them  with  peculiar  delight 
for  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  devoted  most  of  their  time 
to  these  blessed  contemplations,  have  surely  gained 
some  advantage  by  it,  some  peculiar  fitness  to  receive 

* Dr.  Henry  More,  a great  searcher  into  the  world  of  spirits, 
and  a pious  divine  of  the  Church  of  England. 

t Mr.  John  Howe,  a name  well  known  and  highly  honoured  for 
his  sagacity  of  thought,  his  exalted  ideas,  and  converse  with  the 
spiritual  world,  as  appears  in  his  writings. 

X Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  and 

§ Dr.  John  Owen,  two  famous  divines  of  prime  reputation  among 
the  churches  in  the  last  century. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS,  467 


the  heavenly  illuminations  of  these  mysteries  above 
their  fellow-spirits. 

There  is  also  the  soul  of  an  ancient  Eusebius,*  and 
the  later  spirits  of  an  Usherf  and  a Burnet,f  who 
have  entertained  themselves  and  the  world  with  the 
sacred  histories  of  the  church,  and  the  wonders  of 
Divine  Providence  in  its  preservation  and  recovery. 
There  is  a Tillotson,§>  that  has  cultivated  the  subjects 
of  holiness,  peace,  and  love,  by  his  pen  and  his  prac- 
tice: there  is  a Baxter, ||  that  he  has  wrought  hard 
for  an  end  of  controversies,  and  laboured  with  much 
zeal  for  the  conversion  of  souls,  though  with  much 
more  success  in  the  last  than  in  the  first. 

Now  though  all  the  spirits  in  heaven  enjoy  the 
general  happiness  of  the  love  of  God  and  Christ,  and 
the  pleasurable  review  of  providence;  yet  may  we 
not  suppose  these  spirits  have  some  special  circum- 
stances of  sacred  pleasure,  suited  to  their  labours 
and  studies  in  their  state  of  trial  on  earth!  For  the 
church  on  earth  is  but  a training  school  for  the 
church  on  high,  and,  as  it  were,  a tiring-room  in 
which  we  are  drest  in  proper  habits  for  our  appear- 
ance and  our  places  in  that  bright  assembly. 

But  some  will  reprove  me  here,  and  say, — What! 
must  none  but  ministers,  and  authors,  and  learned 
men  have  their  distinguished  rewards  and  glories  in 
the  world  of  spirits?  May  not  artificers,  and  traders, 

# Eusebius,  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Christian  church,  who  wrote 
the  History  of  the  Primitive  Ages  of  Christianity. 

t Dr.  John  Usher,  in  the  last  century  archbishop  of  Armagh, 
whose  chronological  writings  and  piety  have  rendered  his  name  ho- 
nourable in  the  world. 

X Dr.  Gilbert  Burnet,  late  bishop  of  Salisbury,  whose  serious  reli- 
gion and  zeal  to  promote  it  among  the  clergy,  made  him  almost  as 
famous  as  his  History  of  the  English  Reformation. 

§ The  names  of  Dr.  John  Tillotson,  late  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  of 

||  Mr.  Richard  Baxter,  a divine  of  great  note  among  the  Protes- 
tant Dissenters,  need  no  further  paraphrase  to  make  them  known. 


468  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

and  pious  women  be  fitted  by  their  character  and 
conduct  on  earth  for  peculiar  stations  and  employ- 
ments in  heaven? 

Yes,  doubtless  their  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God, 
their  fervent  love  to  Christ,  their  patience  under  long 
trials,  and  the  variety  of  their  graces  exercised  accord- 
ing to  their  stations  on  earth,  may  render  them  pecu- 
liarly fitted  for  special  rewards  on  high;  the  wisdom 
of  God  will  not  be  at  a loss  to  find  out  distinguishing 
pleasures  to  recompense  them  all;  though  where  the 
very  station  and  business  of  this  life  is  such  as  makes 
a nearer  approach  to  the  blessedness  and  business  of 
heaven,  it  is  much  easier  for  us  to  guess  at  the  nature 
of  that  future  recompense. 

Let  me  ask  my  own  soul  then,  “ Soul,  what  art  thou 
busy  about?  What  is  thy  chief  employment  during 
thy  present  state  of  trial?  I hope  thou  art  not  mak- 
ing ‘provision  for  the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof;’ 
for  then  thou  art  fit  for  no  place  in  heaven,  the  doors 
will  be  for  ever  shut  against  thee.  But  what  special 
works  of  the  Spirit  art  thou  engaged  in?  Dost  thou 
redeem  what  hours  thou  art  able,  from  the  necessary 
businesses  of  life,  to  do  more  immediate  service  for 
God,  to  converse  with  things  heavenly?  Art  thou 
seeking  to  gain  a proper  meetness  for  the  sublimer 
employments  of  that  upper  world,  and  a relish  of  the 
most  refined  pleasures?” 

But  I proceed  to  the  second  particular. 

II.  The  perfection  of  the  spirits  above,  not  only 
admits  of  a rich  variety  of  entertainments,  according 
to  the  various  relish  and  inclination  of  the  blessed, 
but  it  is  such  a perfection  as  allows  of  different  de- 
grees even  in  the  same  blessedness,  according  to  the 
different  capacities  of  spirits,  and  their  different  de- 
grees of  preparation.  The  word  perfection  does  not 
always  require  equality. 

If  all  the  souls  in  heaven  were  of  one  mould,  and 
make,  and  inclination,  yet  there  may  be  different 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  469 

sizes  of  capacity  even  in  the  same  genius,  and  a 
different  degree  of  preparation  for  the  same  delights 
and  enjoyments;  therefore  though  all  the  spirits  of 
the  just  were  uniform  in  their  natures  and  pleasures, 
and  all  perfect;  yet  one  spirit  may  possess  more 
happiness  and  glory  than  another,  because  it  is  more 
capacious  of  intellectual  blessings,  and  better  pre- 
pared for  them.  So  when  vessels  of  various  size  are 
thrown  into  the  same  ocean,  there  will  be  a great 
difference  in  the  quantity  of  the  liquid  which  they 
receive,  though  all  might  be  full  to  the  brim,  and  all 
made  of  the  richest  metal. 

Now  there  is  much  evidence  of  this  truth  in  the 
Holy  Scripture.  Our  Saviour  intimates  such  diffe- 
rences of  rewards  in  several  of  his  expressions.  Mat. 
xix.  28:  he  promises  the  apostles,  that  they  “ shall 
sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.”  And  it  is  probable  that  this  may  denote 
something  of  superior  honour  or  dignity  above  the 
meanest  of  the  saints.  And  even  among  the  apostles 
themselves  he  seems  to  allow  of  a difference;  for 
though  he  would  not  promise  James  and  John  to 
sit  next  to  him  on  his  right  hand  and  his  left  in  his 
kingdom,  Matt.  xx.  20,  &c.,  yet  he  does  not  deny 
that  there  are  such  distinct  dignities,  but  says,  “It 
shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  his 
Father,”  ver.  23. 

Again,  our  Lord  says,  Matt.  x.  41,  42,  He  that 
receives  a prophet,  and  entertains  him  as  a prophet, 
shall  have  a prophet’s  reward ; and  he  that  entertains 
a righteous  man  agreeably  to  his  character,  and  from 
a real  esteem  of  his  righteousness,  shall  have  a 
righteous  man’s  reward;  and  even  the  meanest  sort 
of  entertainment,  a cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a 
disciple,  for  the  sake  of  his  character,  shall  not  go 
without  some  reward.  Here  are  three  sorts  or  de- 
grees of  reward  mentioned,  extending  to  the  life 
to  come,  as  well  as  to  this  life;  now  though  neither 
41 


470  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

of  them  can  be  merited  by  works,  but  all  are  entirely 
conferred  by  grace,  yet  as  one  observes  here,  “The 
Lord  hath  fixed  a proportion  between  the  work  and 
the  reward;  so  that  as  one  has  different  degrees  of 
goodness,  the  other  shall  have  different  degrees  of 
excellency.” 

Our  Saviour  assures  us,  that  the  torments  of  hell 
shall  admit  of  various  degrees  and  distinctions;  some 
will  be  more  exquisite  and  terrible  than  others;  it 
shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  who  never  sinned  against 
half  so  much  light,  than  it  shall  be  for  Chorazin, 
Bethsaida,  and  Capernaum,  where  Christ  himself 
had  preached  his  gospel,  and  confirmed  it  with  most 
evident  miracles,  Matt.  xi.  21 — 24.  And  the  ser- 
vants who  did  not  the  will  of  their  Lord,  shall  be 
beaten  with  more  or  fewer  stripes,  according  to  their 
different  degrees  of  knowledge  and  advantages  of 
instruction;  Luke  xii.  47,  48.  Now  may  we  not, 
by  a parallel  reasoning,  suppose  there  will  be  vari- 
ous orders  and  degrees  of  reward  in  heaven,  as  well 
as  punishment  in  hell;  since  there  is  scarce  a greater 
variety  among  the  degrees  of  wickedness  among 
sinners  on  earth,  than  there  is  of  holiness  among  the 
saints? 

When  the  apostle  is  describing  the  glories  of  the 
body  at  the  great  resurrection,  he  seems  to  represent 
the  differences  of  glory  that  shall  be  conferred  on 
different  saints,  by  the  difference  of  the  great  lumi- 
naries of  heaven;  1 Cor.  xv.  41,  42:  “There  is  one 
glory  of  the  sun,  another  glory  of  the  moon,  and 
another  glory  of  the  stars;  for  one  star  differs  from 
another  in  glory;  so  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.” 

The  prophet  Daniel  led  the  way  to  this  descrip- 
tion, and  the  same  Spirit  taught  the  apostle  the  same 
language;  Dan.  xii.  2,  3:  “And  many  of  them 
that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 


471 


to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlast- 
ing contempt;  and  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine,” 
(with  common  glory)  “as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment; and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,” 
(shall  have  a peculiar  lustre)  “as  the  stars  for  ever 
and  ever.”  And  if  there  be  a difference  in  the  visi- 
ble glories  of  the  saints  at  the  resurrection,  if  those 
who  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  sparkle,  in 
that  day  with  brighter  beams  than  those  who  are 
only  wise  for  their  own  salvation;  the  same  reason, 
leads  us  to  believe  a difference  of  spiritual  glory  in 
the  state  of  separate  spirits,  when  the  recompense 
of  their  labours  is  begun. 

So,  1 Cor.  iii.  8:  “He  that  planteth,  and  he  that 
watereth,  are  one;  and  every  man  shall  receive  his 
own  reward  according  to  his  own  labour.”  If  all 
be  rewarded  alike,  the  apostle  would  not  have  said, 
Each  man  shall  receive  according  to  his  own  labour. 
Surely  since  there  is  a distinction  of  labours,  there 
will  be  a distinction  of  rewards  too. 

And  it  is  with  this  view  the  same  apostle  exhorts 
the  Corinthians,  1 Cor.  xv.  58:  “Therefore,  my 
beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmoveable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as 
ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.” 
Now  that  great  labour  and  diligence,  that  steadfast- 
ness in  profession,  and  that  zeal  in  practice,  to  which 
the  apostle  exhorts  them,  might  seem  to  be  in  vain, 
if  those  who  were  far  less  laborious,  less  zealous, 
and  less  steadfast,  should  obtain  an  equal  recompense. 

It  is  upon  the  same  principle  that  he  encourages 
them  to  holy  patience  under  afflictive  trials,  2 Cor. 
iv.  17,  when  he  says,  “Our  light  affliction,  which 
is  but  for  a moment,  worketh  out  for  us  a far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory;  while  we 
look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  and  temporal, 
but  at  the  things  invisible  and  eternal.”  Now  if  the 


472  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

saint,  who  was  called  to  heaven  almost  as  soon  as 
he  was  made  a Christian,  and  went  through  no  suf- 
ferings, should  possess  the  same  weight  of  glory 
with  the  martyrs  and  confessors,  under  the  long  and 
tedious  train  of  cruelties  which  they  sustained  from 
men,  or  painful  trials  from  the  hand  of  God;  I can- 
not see  how  their  afflictions  could  be  said  to  work 
for  them  a far  more  exceeding  weight  of  glory. 

He  urges  them  also  to  great  degrees  of  liberality 
from  the  same  motive;  2 Cor.  ix.  6:  “This  I say, 
he  that  soweth  sparingly,  shall  reap  also  sparingly, 
and  he  which  soweth  bountifully,  shall  also  reap 
bountifully.”  Which  words  may  reasonably  be  con- 
strued to  signify  the  blessings  of  the  world  to  come,  as 
well  as  the  blessings  of  the  present  life;  for  this 
apostle  speaking  of  the  same  duty  of  liberality,  ex- 
presses the  same  encouragement  under  the  same 
metaphors ; Gal.  vi.  6 — 9 : “ Let  h im  that  is  taught  in 
the  word,  communicate  to  him  that  teacheth  in  all 
good  things.  Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not  mocked; 
for  whatsoever  a man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap: 
for  he  that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit, 
shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting.  And  let  us 
not  be  weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due  season  we 
shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.”  When  God  distributes 
the  riches  of  his  glory  amongst  the  saints  in  heaven, 
he  pours  them  out  in  a large  and  bountiful  manner 
upon  those  who  have  distributed  the  good  things  of 
this  life  bountifully  to  the  poor;  but  he  rewards  the 
narrow-souled  Christian  with  a more  sparing  hand. 

With  the  same  design  does  the  apostle  encourage 
Christians  to  watchfulness  against  sin  and  heresy,  as 
well  as  ministers,  to  a solicitous  care  of  their  doctrine 
and  preaching;  1 Cor.  iii.  12 — 15.  If  any  man 
build  gold,  silver,  or  precious  stones  upon  the  true 
foundation  Jesus  Christ,  and  raise  a glorious  super- 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  473 

structure  of  faith  and  holiness,  he  shall  receive  a re- 
ward answerable  to  his  skill  and  care  in  building;  for 
his  work  shall  stand,  when  it  is  tried  by  the  fire  of 
the  judgment-day.  But  if  he  build  wood,  hay,  and 
stubble  upon  it,  evil  inferences,  and  corrupt  practices, 
or  trifles,  fruitless  controversies,  idle  speculations,  and 
vain  ceremonies,  his  works  shall  be  burnt,  and  he 
shall  suffer  loss,  shall  obtain  a far  less  recompense  for 
his  labour;  yet,  since  he  has  laid  Christ  for  the  foun- 
dation, and  has  taught  and  practised  the  fundamental 
doctrines  and  duties  of  Christianity,  though  mingled 
with  much  folly  and  weakness,  he  himself  shall  be 
saved;  yet  in  so  hazardous  a manner  as  a man  that  is 
saved  by  fire,  who  loses  all  his  goods,  and  just  escapes 
with  his  life. 

When  you  hear  St.  Paul  or  St.  John,  speaking 
of  the  last  judgment,  they  give  hints  of  the  same  dis- 
tinction of  rewards,  2 Cor.  v.  10:  “For  we  must 
all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ;  that 
every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body, 
according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good 
or  bad.”  Eph.  vi.  8:  “Whatsoever  good  thing  any 
man  doet.h,  the  same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord, 
whether  he  be  bond  or  free.”  Rev.  xxii.  12:  “And 
behold,  I come  quickly;  and  my  reward  is  with  me, 
to  give  every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be.” 
Though  the  highest  and  holiest  saint  in  heaven  can 
claim  nothing  there  by  the  way  of  merit  (for  it  is  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  alone,  who  has  purchased  all 
those  unknown  blessings)  yet  he  will  distribute  them 
according  to  the  different  characters  and  degrees  of 
holiness  which  his  saints  possessed  on  earth;  and 
those  larger  degrees  of  holiness  were  also  the  free 
gift  of  God  our  Saviour. 

I have  often  represented  it  to  my  own  thoughts 
under  this  comparison.  Here  is  a race  appointed; 

41* 


474  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

here  are  a thousand  different  prizes,  purchased  by 
some  prince  to  be  bestowed  on  the  racers;  and  the 
prince  himself  gives  them  food  and  wine,  according 
to  what  proportion  he  pleases,  to  strengthen  and  ani- 
mate them  for  the  race.  Each  has  a particular  stage 
appointed  for  him ; some  of  shorter,  and  some  of  lon- 
ger distance.  When  every  racer  comes  to  his  own 
goal,  he  receives  a prize  in  most  exact  proportion  to 
his  speed,  diligence,  and  length  of  race;  and  the 
grace  and  the  justice  of  the  prince  shine  gloriously 
in  such  a distribution.  Not  the  foremost  of  the 
racers  can  pretend  to  have  merited  the  prize  ; for 
the  prizes  were  all  paid  for  by  the  prince  himself; 
and  it  was  he  that  appointed  the  race,  and  gave  them 
spirit  and  strength  to  run;  and  yet  there  is  a most 
equitable  proportion  observed  in  the  reward,  accord- 
ing to  the  labours  of  the  race:  Now  this  similitude 
represents  the  matter  so  agreeably  to  the  apostle's 
way  of  speaking,  when  he  compares  the  Christian 
life  to  a race,  1 Cor.  xi.  24,  &c.  Gal.  v.  7.  Phil.  iii. 
14;  2 Tim.  iv.  7;  Heb.  xii.  1 ; that  I think  it  may  be 
called  almost  a scriptural  description  of  the  present 
subject. 

The  reason  of  man,  and  the  light  of  nature,  en- 
tirely concur  with  scripture  in  this  point.  The 
glory  of  heaven  is  prepared  for  those  who  are  pre- 
pared for  it  in  a state  of  grace,  Rom.  ix.  23.  It  is 
God  who  makes  each  of  us  meet  for  our  own  in- 
heritance among  the  saints  in  light,  Col.  i.  12;  and 
then  he  bestows  on  us  that  inheritance.  As  grace 
fits  the  soul  for  glory,  so  a larger  degree  of  grace 
advances  and  widens  the  capacity  of  the  soul,  and 
prepares  it  to  receive  a larger  degree  of  glory.  The 
work  of  grace  is  but  the  means,  the  reward  of  glory 
is  the  end ; now  the  wisdom  of  God  alwTays  fits  and 
adjusts  the  means  in  a due  proportion  to  answer  the 
end  he  designs:  and  the  same  wisdom  ever  makes 
the  end  answerable  to  the  means  he  useth;  and  there- 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  475 

fore  he  infuses  more  and  higher  glories  into  vessels 
more  enlarged  and  better  prepared. 

Some  of  the  spirits  in  heaven  may  be  trained  up 
by  their  stations  and  sacred  services  on  earth,  for 
more  elevated  employments  and  joys  on  high.  Can 
we  imagine  that  the  soul  of  David,  the  sweet  Psalm- 
ist, the  prophet,  and  the  king  of  Israel,  is  not  fitted 
by  all  his  labours  and  trials,  all  his  raptures  of  faith, 
and  love,  and  zeal,  for  some  sublimer  devotion  and 
nobler  business  than  his  own  infant  child,  the  fruit 
of  his  adultery?  And  yet  our  divines  have  generally 
placed  this  child  in  heaven,  because  David  ceased 
to  mourn  for  him  at  his  death,  and  said,  that  he  him- 
self should  go  to  him;  2 Sam.  xii.  20,  23.  Deborah, 
the  prophetess,  judged  Israel;  she  animated  their 
armies,  and  sung  their  victories.  Is  not  Deborah 
engaged  in  some  more  illustrious  employment  among 
the  heavenly  tribes  than  good  Dorcas  may  seem  to 
be  capable  of,  whose  highest  character  upon  record 
is,  that  she  was  full  of  alms-deeds,  and  made  coats 
and  garments  for  the  poor?  Acts  ix.  36,  39.  And 
yet  perhaps  Dorcas  is  prepared  too  for  some  greater 
enjoyments,  some  sweeter  relish  of  mercy,  or  some 
special  taste  of  the  divine  goodness,  above  Rahab  the 
harlot ; Rahab,  whose  younger  character  was  lewd 
and  infamous,  and  the  best  thing  that  we  read  of  her 

is,  that  her  faith  under  the  present  terror  of  the  ar- 
mies of  Israel  taught  her  once  to  cover  and  conceal 
their  spies;  and  unless  she  made  great  advances  after- 
ward in  grace,  surely  her  place  is  not  very  high  in 
glory. 

The  worship  of  heaven,  and  the  joy  that  attends 

it,  may  be  exceedingly  different  in  degrees  according 
to  the  different  capacity  of  spirits,  and  yet  all  may 
be  perfect  and  free  from  sinful  defects.  Does  not 
the  sparrow  praise  the  Lord  its  Maker  upon  the 
ridge  of  a cottage,  chirping  in  its  native  perfection? 
And  yet  the  lark  advances  in  her  flight  and  her  song 


476  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

as  far  above  the  sparrow,  as  the  clouds  are  above  the 
house-top. 

Surely  superior  joys  and  glories  must  belong  to 
superior  powers  and  services. 

Can  we  think  that  Abraham  and  Moses,  who  were 
trained  up  in  converse  with  God  face  to  face,  as  a 
man  converses  with  his  friend,  and  who  followed  him 
through  the  wilderness  and  unknown  countries  in  a 
glorious  exercise  of  faith,  were  not  prepared  for  a 
greater  intimacy  with  God,  and  nearer  views  of  his 
glory  in  heaven,  than  Samson  and  Jephthah,  those 
rude  heroes,  who  being  appointed  of  God  for  that 
service,  spent  their  days  in  bloody  work,  in  hewing 
down  the  Philistines  and  the  Amorites?  For  we 
read  little  of  their  acquaintance  with  God,  or  con- 
verse with  him,  beside  a petition  now  and  then,  or  a 
vow  for  victory  and  for  slaughter;  and  we  should 
hardly  have  charity  enough  to  believe  they  were 
saved,  if  St.  Paul  had  not  graced  them  among  the 
examples  of  faith  in  his  eleventh  chapter  to  the 
Hebrews.  Can  we  ever  believe  that  the  thief  upon 
the  cross,  who  spent  his  life  in  plundering  and  mis- 
chief, and  made  a single  though  sincere  profession 
of  the  name  of  Jesus  just  in  his  dying  hour,  was 
prepared  for  the  same  high  station  and  enjoyment  in 
paradise,  so  near  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  as  the 
great  apostle  Paul,  whose  prayers  and  sermons, 
whose  miracles  of  labour  and  suffering  filled  up  and 
finished  a long  life,  and  honoured  his  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour more  than  all  the  twelve  apostles  besides? 
Can  we  imagine  that  the  child  that  is  just  horn  into 
this  world  under  the  friendly  shadow  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  weeps  and  dies,  and  is  taken  to 
heaven,  is  fit  to  be  possessor  of  the  same  glories,  or 
raised  to  the  same  degree  there,  as  the  studious,  the 
laborious,  and  the  zealous  Christian,  that  has  lived 
above  fourscore  years  on  earth,  and  spent  the  great- 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  477 

est  part  of  his  life  in  the  studies  of  religion,  the  ex- 
ercises of  piety,  and  the  zealous  and  painful  services 
of  God  and  his  country?  Surely,  if  all  these  which 
I have  named  must  have  equal  knowledge  and  joy 
in  the  future  world,  it  is  hard  to  find  how  such  an 
exact  equity  shall  be  displayed  in  the  distribution  of 
final  rewards,  as  the  word  of  God  so  frequently  de- 
scribes. 

Objection.  But  in  the  parable  of  the  labourers, 
hired  to  work  in  the  vineyard,  Matt.  xx.  9 — 12;  does 
not  every  man  receive  his  penny,  they  who  were 
called  at  the  first  and  third  hour,  and  they  who  were 
called  at  the  last?  Were  not  their  rewards  all  equal, 
those  who  had  wrought  but  one  hour,  and  those  who 
had  borne  the  burden  and  the  heat  of  the  day? 

Answer.  It  is  not  the  design  of  this  parable  to 
represent  the  final  rewards  of  the  saints  at  the  day 
of  judgment,  but  to  show  that  the  nation  of  the  Jews, 
who  had  been  called  to  be  the  people  of  God  above 
a thousand  years  before,  and  had  borne  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day,  that  is,  the  toil  and  bondage  of 
many  ceremonies,  should  have  no  preference  in  the 
esteem  of  God  above  the  Gentiles,  who  were  called 
at  the  last  hour,  or  at  the  end  of  the  Jewish  dispen- 
sation; for  it  is  said,  ver.  16  : “The  last  shall  be  first, 
and  the  first  last;”  that  is,  the  Gentiles,  who  waited 
long  ere  the  gospel  was  preached  to  them,  shall  be 
the  first  in  receiving  it;  and  the  Jews,  to  whom  it 
was  first  offered,  from  an  inward  scorn  and  pride 
shall  reject  it,  or  receive  it  but  slowly;  and  Christ 
adds  this  confirmation  of  it,  “for  many  be  called, 
but  few  chosen;”  that  is,  though  multitudes  of  Jews 
were  called  to  believe  in  Christ,  that  few  accepted 
the  call. 

There  is  another  reason  why  this  parable  cannot 
refer  to  the  final  rewards  of  heaven ; because,  ver. 
11,  it  is  said,  “Some  of  them  murmured  against  the 


478  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

good  man  'of  the  house.”  Now  there  shall  be  no 
envy  against  their  fellow-saints,  nor  murmuring 
against  God  in  the  heavenly  state.  But  the  Jews, 
and  even  the  Jewish  converts  to  Christianity,  were 
ready  often  to  murmur  that  the  gospel  should  be 
preached  to  the  Gentile  world,  and  that  the  heathens 
should  be  brought  into  privileges  equal  with  them- 
selves. 

Thus  it  sufficiently  appears,  from  the  frequent  de- 
clarations of  scripture,  as  well  as  from  the  reason 
and  equity  of  things,  that  the  rewards  of  the  future 
world  shall  be  greatly  distinguished  according  to  the 
different  degrees  of  holiness  and  service  for  God, 
even  though  every  spirit  there  shall  be  perfect;  nor 
is  there  any  just  and  reasonable  objection  against  it. 

Is  it  certain  then,  that  heaven  has  various  degrees 
of  happiness  in  it,  and  shall  my  spirit  rest  contented 
with  the  meanest  place  there,  and  the  least  and 
lowest  measure?  Hast  thou  no  sacred  ambition  in 
thee,  O my  soul,  to  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob?  Or  dost  thou  not  aspire  at  least  to  the 
middle  ranks  of  glorified  saints,  though  perhaps  thou 
mayest  despair  of  those  most  exalted  stations  which 
are  prepared  for  the  spirits  of  chief  renown,  for  Abra- 
ham and  Moses  of  ancient  time,  and  for  the  martyrs 
and  the  apostles  of  the  Lamb?  Wilt  thou  not  stir 
up  all  the  vigour  of  nature  and  grace  within  thee, 
to  do  great  service  for  thy  God  and  thy  Saviour  on 
earth,  that  thy  reward  in  heaven  may  not  be  small? 
Wilt  thou  not  run  with  zeal  and  patience  the  race 
that  is  set  before  thee,  looking  to  the  brightest  cloud 
of  witnesses,  and  reaching  at  some  of  the  richer 
prizes?  Remember  that  Jesus  thy  Judge  is  coming 
apace;  he  has  rewards  with  him  of  every  size,  and 
the  lustre  and  weight  of  thy  crown  shall  most  exactly 
correspond  to  thy  sweat  and  labour. 

But  I must  not  dwell  always  on  this  head;  I pro- 
ceed therefore  to  the  next. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  479 

11.  The  spirits  of  the  just  in  heaven  enjoy  such 
a perfection  as  is  consistent  with  perpetual  changes 
of  business  and  delights  even  in  the  same  person  or 
spirit.  They  may  be  always  perfect,  but  in  a rich 
and  endless  variety. 

It  is  only  God  who  possesses  all  possible  excel- 
lencies, and  powers,  and  happinesses  at  once,  and 
therefore  he  alone  is  incapable  of  change;  but  crea- 
tures must  possess  and  enjoy  their  delights  in  a suc- 
cession, because  they  cannot  possess  and  enjoy  all 
that  they  are  capable  of  at  once.  And  according  to 
this  consideration  the  heavenly  state  is  represented 
in  scripture  in  various  forms  both  of  business  and 
blessedness. 

Sometimes  it  is  described  by  seeing  God,  Matt.  v. 
8,  by  beholding  him  face  to  face,  1 Cor.  xiii.  12, 
by  being  present  with  the  Lord,  2 Cor.  v.  8;  by 
being  where  Christ  is,  to  behold  his  glory,  John 
xvii.  24.  Sometimes  the  saints  above  are  said  to 
serve  him  as  his  servants,  Rev.  xxii.  3.  Sometimes 
they  are  represented  as  worshipping  before  the 
throne,  as  being  fed  with  the  fruits  of  the  tree  of 
life,  and  drinking  the  living  fountains  of  water,  Rev. 
vii.  15,  17,  and  xxii.  1,  2,  and  let  it  be  noted  that 
twelve  manner  of  fruits  grew  on  this  tree,  and  they 
were  new  every  month  also.  Sometimes  they  are 
held  forth  to  us  as  singing  a new  song  to  God,  and 
to  the  Lamb,  Rev.  xiv.  3.  And  at  another  time, 
they  are  described  as  wearing  a crown  of  righteous- 
ness and  glory,  of  sitting  on  the  throne  of  Christ,  of 
reigning  for  ever  and  ever,  and  ruling  the  nations 
with  a rod  of  iron,  2 Tim.  iv.  8,  1 Pet.  v.  4,  Rev. 
xxii.  5;  and  ii.  26,  27.  And  in  another  place  our 
happiness  is  represented  as  sitting  down  with  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
Matt.  viii.  11.  Now  surely  this  rich  variety  of 
language,  whereby  the  heavenly  state  is  proposed  to 
us  in  scripture,  must  intend  a variety  of  entertain- 


480  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

ments  and  employments,  that  may  in  some  measure 
answer  the  glory  of  such  expressions. 

It  is  not  only  the  powers  of  our  understanding  that 
shall  be  regaled  and  feasted  in  those  happy  regions 
with  the  blissful  vision  of  God  and  Christ,  but  our 
active  powers  shall  doubtless  have  their  proper  enter- 
tainments too.  When  angels  are  so  variously  and 
delightfully  employed  in  service  for  God,  in  his 
several  known  and  unknown  worlds,  we  cannot 
suppose  the  spirits  of  just  men  shall  be  eternally 
confined  to  a sedentary  state  of  inactive  contem- 
plation. 

Contemplation  indeed  is  a noble  pleasure,  and  the 
joy  of  it  arises  high  when  it  is  fixed  on  the  sublimest 
objects,  and  when  the  faculties  are  all  exalted  and 
refined.  But  surely  such  a sight  of  God  and  our 
dear  Redeemer  as  we  shall  enjoy  above,  will  awaken 
and  animate  all  the  active  and  sprightly  powers  of 
the  soul,  and  set  all  the  springs  of  love  and  zeal  at 
work  in  most  illustrious  instances  of  unknown  and 
glorious  duty. 

I confess  heaven  is  described  as  a place  of  rest, 
that  is,  rest  from  sin  and  sorrow,  rest  from  pain  and 
weariness,  rest  from  all  the  toilsome  labours  and  con- 
flicts that  we  endure  in  a state  of  trial;  but  it  can 
never  be  such  a rest  as  lays  all  our  active  powers 
asleep,  or  renders  them  useless  in  such  a vital  and 
active  world.  It  would  diminish  the  happiness  of 
the  saints  in  glory  to  be  unemployed  there.  Those 
spirits  who  have  tasted  unknown  delight  and  satis- 
faction in  many  long  seasons  of  devotion,  and  in  a 
thousand  painful  services  for  their  blessed  Lord  on 
earth,  can  hardly  bear  the  thoughts  of  paying  no 
active  duties,  doing  no  work  at  all  for  him  in  heaven, 
where  business  is  all  over  delight,  and  labour  is  all 
enjoyment.  Surely  his  servants  shall  serve  him 
there,  as  well  as  worship  him.  They  shall  serve 
him  perhaps  as  priests  in  his  temple,  and  as  kings, 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  481 

or  viceroys  in  his  wide  dominions;  for  they  are  made 
kings  and  priests  unto  God  for  ever,  Rev.  v.  10. 

But  let  us  dwell  a little  upon  their  active  employ- 
ments, and  perhaps  a close  and  attentive  meditation 
may  lead  us  into  an  unexpected  view  and  notice  of 
their  sacred  commissions  and  embassies,  their  govern- 
ments, and  their  holy  conferences,  as  well  as  their  acts 
of  worship  and  adoration. 

That  heaven  is  a place  or  state  of  worship,  is  cer- 
tain, and  beyond  all  controversy;  for  this  is  a very 
frequent  description  of  it  in  the  word  of  God.  And 
as  the  great  God  has  been  pleased  to  appoint  diffe- 
rent forms  of  worship  to  be  practised  by  his  saints 
and  his  churches  under  the  different  economies  of 
his  grace;  so  it  is  possible  he  may  appoint  peculiar 
forms  of  sacred  magnificence  to  attend  his  own  wor- 
ship in  the  state  of  glory.  Bowing  the  knee,  and 
prostration  of  the  body,  are  forms  and  postures  of  hu- 
mility practised  by  earthly  worshippers.  Angels 
cover  their  faces  and  their  feet  with  their  wings, 
and  cry,  “Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  hosts!'’ 
Isa.  vi.  2,  3.  But  what  unknown  and  illustrious 
forms  shall  be  consecrated  by  the  appointment  and 
authority  of  Christ,  for  the  unbodied  or  the  bodied 
saints  in  heaven  to  adorn  their  sacred  offices,  is  above 
our  reacli  to  describe  or  to  imagine. 

Let  us  consider  now  w7hat  parts  of  worship  the 
blessed  are  employed  in. 

The  various  parts  of  divine  worship  that  are  prac- 
tised on  earth,  at  least  such  as  are  included  in  natu- 
ral religion,  shall  doubtless  be  performed  in  heaven 
too;  and  what  other  unknown  worship  of  positive 
and  celestial  appointment  shall  belong  to  the  hea- 
venly state,  is  as  much  above  our  present  conjecture, 
as  the  forms  of  it  are. 

Heaven  is  represented  as  full  of  praises.  There  is 
the  most  glorious  and  perfect  celebration  of  God  the 
42 


482  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

Father  and  the  Saviour  in  the  upper  world;  and  the 
highest  praise  is  offered  to  them  with  the  deepest  hu- 
mility. 

The  crowns  of  glory  are  cast  down  at  their  feet, 
and  ail  the  powers  and  perfections  of  God,  with  all 
his  labours  of  creation,  his  cares  of  providence,  and 
the  sweeter  mysteries  of  his  grace,  shall  furnish  no- 
ble matter  for  divine  praise. 

This  work  of  praise  is  also  exhibited  in  scripture, 
as  attended  with  a song  and  heavenly  melody. 
What  there  is  in  the  world  of  separate  spirits  to  an- 
swer the  representations  of  harps  and  voices,  we 
know  not.  It  is  possible  that  spirits  may  be  capable 
of  some  sort  of  harmony  in  their  language,  without 
a tongue,  and  without  an  ear,  and  there  may  be  some 
inimitable  and  transporting  modulations  of  divine 
praise  without  the  material  instruments  of  string  or 
wind.  The  soul  itself,  by  some  philosophers,  is  said 
to  be  mere  harmony;  and  surely  then  it  will  not 
wait  for  it  till  the  body  be  raised  from  the  dust,  nor 
live  so  long  destitute  of  all  melodious  joys,  or  of  that 
spiritual  pleasure  which  shall  supply  the  place  of 
melody,  till  our  organs  of  sense  shall  be  restored  to 
us  again. 

But  is  all  heaven  made  up  of  praises?  Is  there 
no  prayer  there?  Let  us  consider  a little;  what  is 
prayer,  but  the  desire  of  a created  spirit  in  an  hum- 
ble manner  made  known  to  its  Creator?  Does 
not  every  saint  above  desire  to  know  God,  to  love 
and  serve  him,  to  be  employed  for  his  honour,  and 
to  enjoy  the  eternal  continuance  of  his  love  and  its 
own  felicity?  May  not  each  happy  spirit  in  heaven 
exert  these  desires  in  a way  of  solemn  address  to 
the  Divine  Majesty?  May  not  the  happy  soul  ac- 
knowledge its  dependence  in  this  manner  upon  its 
Father  and  its  God?  Is  there  no  place  in  the  heart 
of  a glorified  saint  for  such  humble  addresses  as 
these?'  Does  not  every  separate  spirit  there  look 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  483 

and  long  for  the  resurrection,  when  it  is  certain  that 
imbodied  spirits  on  earth,  who  have  received  the 
first  fruits  of  grace  and  glory,  “groan  within  them- 
selves, waiting  for  the  redemption  of  the  body?” 
Rom.  viii.  23.  And  may  we  not  suppose  each  holy 
soul  sending  a sacred  and  fervent  wish  after  this 
glorious  day,  and  lifting  up  a desire  to  its  God  about 
it,  though  without  the  uneasiness  of  a sigh  or  a groan? 
May  it  not,  under  the  influence  of divine  love,  breathe 
out  the  requests  of  its  heart,  and  the  expressions  of 
its  zeal  for  the  glory  and  kingdom  of  Christ?  May 
not  the  church  above  join  with  the  churches  below 
in  this  language:  “Father,  thy  kingdom  come;  thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven?”  Are  not 
the  souls  of  the  martyrs  that  were  slain,  represented 
to  us  as  under  the  altar,  crying  with  a loud  voice, 
“How  long,  O Lord,  holy  and  true?”  Rev.  vi.  9,  10. 
This  looks  like  the  voice  of  prayer  in  heaven. 

Perhaps  you  will  suppose  there  is  no  such  service 
as  hearing  sermons,  that  there  is  no  attendance  upon 
the  word  of  God  there.  But  are  we  sure  there  are 
no  such  entertainments?  Are  there  no  lectures  of 
divine  wisdom  and  grace  given  to  the  younger  spirits 
there,  by  spirits  of  a more  exalted  station?  Or  may 
not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  be  the  everlasting 
teacher  of  his  church?  May  he  not  at  solemn  sea- 
sons summon  all  heaven  to  hear  him  publish  some 
new  and  surprising  discoveries,  which  have  never 
yet  been  made  known  to  the  ages  of  nature,  or  of 
grace,  and  are  reserved  to  entertain  the  attention,  and 
exalt  the  pleasure  of  spirits  advanced  to  glory? 
Must  we  learn  all  by  the  mere  contemplation  of 
Christ’s  person?  Does  he  never  make  use  of  speech 
to  the  instruction  and  joy  of  saints  above? 

Moses  and  Elijah  came  down  once  from  heaven 
to  make  a visit  to  Christ  on  mount  Tabor,  and  the 
subject  of  their  converse  with  him  was  his  death  and 


484  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

departure  from  this  world,  Luke  ix.  31.  Now  since 
our  Lord  is  ascended  to  heaven,  are  these  holy  souls 
cut  off  from  this  divine  pleasure?  Is  Jesus  for  ever 
silent?  Does  he  converse  with  his  glorified  saints 
no  more?  And  surely  if  he  speak,  the  saints  will 
hear  and  attend. 

Or  it  may  be  that  our  blessed  Lord  (even  as  he  is 
man)  has  some  noble  and  unknown  way  of  commu- 
nicating a long  discourse,  or  a long  train  of  ideas 
and  discoveries  to  millions  of  blessed  spirits  at  once, 
without  the  formalities  of  voice  and  language;  and 
at  some  peculiar  seasons  he  may  thus  instruct  and 
delight  his  saints  in  heaven. 

Thus  it  appears  there  may  be  something  among 
the  spirits  of  the  just  above,  that  is  analogous  to 
prayer  and  preaching,  as  well  as  praise. 

O how  gustful  are  the  pleasures  of  celestial  wor- 
ship! What  unknown  varieties  of  performance, 
what  sublime  ministrations  there  are,  and  glorious 
services,  none  can  tell.  And  in  all  this  variety,  which 
may  be  performed  in  sweet  succession,  there  is  no 
wandering  thought,  no  cold  affection,  no  divided 
heart,  no  listless  or  indifferent  worshipper.  What  we 
call  rapture  and  ecstasy  here  on  earth,  is  perhaps  the 
constant  and  uninterrupted  pleasure  of  the  church 
on  high  in  all  their  adorations. 

But  let  the  worship  of  the  glorified  spirits  be 
never  so  various,  yet  I cannot  persuade  myself  that 
mere  direct  acts  or  exercises  of  what  we  properly 
call  worship,  are  their  only  and  everlasting  work. 

The  scripture  tells  us,  there  are  certain  seasons 
when  the  angels,  those  sons  of  God,  come  to  present 
themselves  before  the  Lord,  Job  i.  6,  and  ii.  1.  It 
is  evident,  then,  that  the  intervals  of  these  seasons  are 
spent  in  other  employments;  and  when  they  present 
themselves  before  God,  it  does  not  sufficiently  appear 
that  mere  adoration  and  praise  is  their  only  business 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  485 

at  the  throne.  In  the  very  place  which  I have  cited, 
it  seems  more  natural  to  suppose  that  these  angelic 
spirits  came  thither  rather  to  render  an  account  of 
their  several  employments,  and  the  success  of  their 
messages  to  other  worlds.  And  why  may  we  not 
suppose  such  a blessed  variety  of  employment  among 
the  spirits  of  men  too? 

This  supposition  has  some  countenance  in  the 
holy  scripture.  The  angel  or  messenger  who  ap- 
peared to  St.  John,  and  showed  him  various  visions, 
by  the  order  of  Christ,  forbids  the  apostle  to  worship 
him,  for  “ I am  thy  fellow-servant,  (said  he)  and  of 
thy  brethren  the  prophets,  and  of  them  which  keep 
the  sayings  of  this  book;”  Rev.  xxii.  8,  9.  These 
words  naturally  lead  one  to  think,  that  though  he 
appeared  as  a messenger  from  Christ,  and  in  the 
form  of  an  angel,  yet  he  was  really  a departed  saint, 
a brother,  a fellow-prophet,  perhaps  the  soul  of 
David,  or  Isaiah,  or  Moses,  who  would  count  it  an 
honour  even  in  their  state  of  glory  to  be  thus  em- 
ployed by  their  exalted  Lord;  and  they  also  keep  or 
observe  and  wait  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
sayings  of  that  book  of  the  Revelation,  as  well  as 
the  churches  of  their  brethren,  the  saints  on  earth. 

I freely  allow  immediate  divine  worship  to  take 
up  a good  part  of  their  everlasting  day,  their  sab- 
bath? and  therefore  I suppose  them  to  be  often 
engaged,  millions  at  once,  in  social  worship;  and 
sometimes  acting  apart,  and  raised  in  sublime  medi- 
tation of  God,  or  in  a fixed  vision  of  his  blissful  face, 
with  an  act  of  secret  adoration,  while  their  intellec- 
tual powers  are  almost  lost  in  sweet  amazement ; 
sometimes  they  are  entertaining  themselves  and  their 
fellow-spirits  with  the  graces  and  glories  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne;  but  at  other  times  they  may  be 
making  a report  to  him  of  their  faithful  execution  of 
some  divine  commission  they  received  from  him,  to 

42* 


486  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

be  fulfilled  either  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  or  in  un- 
known and  distant  worlds. 

There  may  be  other  seasons  also,  when  they  are 
not  immediately  addressing  the  throne,  but  are  most 
delightfully  engaged  in  recounting  to  each  other  the 
wondrous  steps  of  providence,  wisdom,  and  mercy, 
that  seized  them  from  the  very  borders  of  hell  and 
despair,  and  brought  them  through  a thousand  dan- 
gers and  difficulties  to  the  possession  of  that  fair 
inheritance.  When  the  great  God  shall  unravel  the 
scheme  of  his  own  counsels,  shall  unfold  every  part 
of  his  mysterious  conduct,  and  set  before  them  the 
reason  of  every  temptation  they  grappled  with,  and 
of  every  sorrow  they  felt  here  on  earth,  and  with 
what  divine  and  successful  influence  they  all  wrought 
together  to  train  them  up  for  heaven,  what  matter 
of  surprising  delight  and  charming  conversation 
shall  this  furnish  the  saints  with  in  that  blessed 
world  ? And  now  and  then  in  the  midst  of  their 
sacred  dialogues,  by  a sympathy  of  soul  they  shall 
shout  together  in  sweet  harmony,  and  join  their  ex- 
alted songs  to  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne  and  to 
the  Lamb.  “Not  unto  us,  O Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  to  thy  power,  to  thy  wisdom , and  to  thine 
abounding  mercy,  be  renown  and  honour  to  ever- 
lasting ages.” 

Nor  is  it  improper  or  unpleasant  to  suppose  that 
among  the  rest  of  their  celestial  conferences,  they 
shall  show  each  other  the  fair  and  easy  solution  of 
those  difficulties  and  deep  problems  in  divinity, 
which  had  exercised  and  perplexed  them  here  on 
earth,  and  divided  them  into  little  angry  parties. 
They  shall  look  back  with  holy  shame  on  some  of 
their  learned  and  senseless  distinctions,  and  be  readjr 
to  wonder  sometimes  what  trifles  and  impertinences 
had  engaged  them  in  dark  and  furious  disputes. 
Darkness  and  entanglement  shall  vanish  at  once 
from  many  of  those  knotty  points  of  controversy, 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  487 

when  they  behold  them  in  the  light  of  heaven : and 
the  rest  of  them  shall  be  matter  of  delightful  instruc- 
tion for  superior  spirits  to  bestow  on  those  of  lower 
rank,  or  on  souls  lately  arrived  at  the  regions  of 
light. 

In  short,  there  is  nothing  written  in  the  hooks  of  na- 
ture,  the  records  of  providence,  or  the  sacred  volumes 
of  grace,  but  may  minister  materials  at  special  seasons 
for  the  holy  conference  of  the  saints  on  high.  No 
history  nor  prophecy,  no  doctrine  nor  duty,  no  com- 
mand, nor  promise,  nor  threatening  in  the  Bible,  but 
may  recall  the  thoughts  of  the  heavenly  inhabitants, 
and  engage  them  in  sweet  conversation.  All  things 
that  relate  to  the  affairs  of  past  ages  and  past  worlds, 
as  well  as  the  present  regions  of  light  and  happiness 
where  they  dwell,  may  give  them  new  themes  of 
dialogue  and  mutual  intercourse. 

And  though  we  are  very  little  acquainted,  whilst 
we  are  on  earth,  with  any  of  the  planetary  worlds, 
besides  that  which  we  inhabit,  yet  who  knows  how 
our  acquaintance  may  be  extended  hereafter  amongst 
the  various  and  distant  globes?  And  what  frequent 
and  swift  journeys  wTe  may  take  thither,  when  we  are 
disincumbered  of  the  load  of  flesh  and  blood,  or 
when  our  bodies  are  raised  again,  active  and  swift 
as  sun-beams!  Sometimes  we  may  entertain  our 
holy  curiosity  there,  and  find  millions  of  new  dis- 
coveries of  divine  power  and  divine  contrivance  in 
those  unknown  regions;  and  bring  back  from  thence 
new  lectures  of  divine  wisdom,  or  tidings  of  the  af- 
fairs of  those  provinces,  to  entertain  our  fellow-spirits, 
and  to  gain  new  honours  to  God  the  Creator  and 
the  Sovereign.  So  a pious  traveller  in  our  lower 
world  visits  Africa  or  both  the  Indies;  at  his  return 
he  sits  in  a circle  of  attentive  admirers,  and  recounts 
to  them  the  wondrous  products  of  those  climates, 
and  the  customs  and  manners  of  those  distant  coun- 
tries; he  gratifies  their  curiosity  with  some  foreign 


488  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

varieties,  and  feasts  their  eyes  aud  their  ears  at  once; 
then  at  the  end  of  every  story  he  breaks  out  into 
holy  language,  and  adores  the  various  riches  and 
wisdom  of  God  the  Creator. 

To  proceed  yet  one  step  farther.  Since  there  are 
different  degrees  of  glory,  we  may  infer  a variety  of 
honours  as  well  as  delights  prepared  for  the  spirit? 
of  the  just  made  perfect. 

Some  part  of  the  happiness  of  heaven  is  described 
in  scripture  by  crowns  and  thrones,  by  royalty  and 
kingly  honours;  why  may  we  not  then  suppose,  that 
such  souls,  whose  sublimer  graces  have  prepared 
them  for  such  dignity  and  office,  may  rule  the  nations, 
even  in  a literal  sense?  Why  may  not  those  spirits 
that  have  past  their  trials  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  come 
off  conquerors,  why  may  they  not  sometimes  be  ap- 
pointed visiters  and  superintendents  over  whole  pro- 
vinces of  intelligent  beings  in  lower  regions,  who  are 
yet  labouring  in  a state  of  probation?  or  perhaps 
they  may  be  exalted  to  a presidency  over  inferior 
ranks  of  happy  spirits,  may  shine  bright  amongst 
them  as  a morning  star,  and  lead  on  their  holy  armies 
to  celestial  work  or  worship.  The  scripture  itself 
gives  us  a hint  of  such  employments  in  the  angelic 
world,  and  such  presidencies  over  some  parts  of  our 
world,  or  of  their  own.  Do  we  not  read  of  Gabriel 
and  Michael,  and  their  management  of  the  affairs  of 
Persia,  and  Greece,  and  Judah,  in  the  book  of  Daniel? 
And  it  is  an  intimation  of  the  same  hierarchy,  when 
some  superior  angel  led  on  a multitude  of  the  hea- 
venly host  to  sing  a hymn  of  praise  at  Bethlehem, 
when  the  Son  of  God  was  born  there;  Luke  ii.  9,  13. 
Now  if  angels  are  thus  dignified,  may  not  human  spi- 
rits unbodied  have  the  same  office?  Our  Saviour, 
when  he  rewards  the  faithful  servant  that  had  gained 
ten  pounds,  bids  him  take  authority  over  ten  cities; 
and  he  that  had  gained  five,  had  five  cities  under  his 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  489 

government;  Luke  xix.  17,  &c. : so  that  this  is  not 
a mere  random  thought,  or  a wild  invention  of  fancy, 
but  patronized  by  the  word  of  God. 

Among  the  pleasures  and  engagements  of  the  up- 
per world,  there  shall  be  always  something  new  and 
entertaining;  for  the  works  and  the  dominions  of 
God  are  vast  beyond  all  our  comprehension.  And 
what  a perpetual  change,  what  a glorious  but  im- 
proving rotation  of  businesses  and  joys  shall  suc- 
ceed one  another  through  the  ages  of  eternity,  we 
shall  never  know  till  we  come  amongst  them.  This 
thought  leads  me  to  the  last  particular,  namely, 

IV.  The  perfection  which  the  blessed  spirits  en- 
joy, gives  room  for  large  additions  and  continual  im- 
provement. 

Their  knowledge  and  their  joy  may  be  called  per- 
fect, because  there  is  no  mixture  of  error  or  sorrow 
with  it;  and  because  it  is  sufficient  every  moment 
for  the  satisfaction  of  present  desires,  without  an  un- 
easiness of  mind.  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
any  creature  ever  was,  or  ever  will  be  so  perfect, 
that  it  is  not  capable  of  addition  or  growth  in  any 
excellency  or  enjoyment. 

The  man  Christ  Jesus,  in  his  present  glorified 
state,  has  not  such  a perfection  as  this.  He  waits 
daily  to  see  his  Father’s  promises  fulfilled  to  him; 
he  waits  till  all  things  are  put  under  him,  and  his 
enemies  are  made  his  actual  footstool;  but  we  know 
that  all  things  are  not  yet  put  tinder  him,  Heb.  ii.  8; 
that  is,  all  the  nations  are  not  yet  subject  to  his  spi- 
ritual kingdom,  nor  become  obedient  to  his  gospel, 
As  fast  as  his  kingdom  grows  on  earth,  so'  fast,  his 
honours  and  his  joys  arise;  and  he  waits  still  for  the 
complete  union  of  all  his  members  to  himself  the 
sacred  head ; he  waits  for  the  morning  of  the  resur- 
rection, when  he  shall  be  glorified  in  the  bright  and 
general  assembly  of  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe,  2 Thess.  i.  10. 


490  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

O that  illustrious  and  magnificent  appearance  ! 
That  shining  hour  of  jubilee,  when  the  bodies  of 
millions  of  saints  shall  awake  out  of  the  dust,  and  be 
released  from  their  long  dark  prison!  When  they 
shall  encompass  and  adore  Jesus  their  Saviour  and 
their  God,  and  acknowledge  their  new  life  and  im- 
mortal state  to  be  owing  to  his  painful  and  shameful 
death;  when  Noah,  Abraham,  and  David,  and  all 
his  pious  progenitors  shall  bow  and  worship  Jesus 
their  Son  -and  their  Lord;  when  the  holy  army  of 
martyrs,  springing  from  the  dust  with  palms  of  vic- 
tory in  their  hands,  shall  ascribe  their  conquest  and 
their  triumph  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain;  when  he 
shall  present  his  whole  church  before  the  presence 
of  his  own  and  his  Father’s  glory,  without  spot,  and 
faultless,  with  exceeding  joy!  Can  we  imagine  that 
Christ  himself,  even  the  man  Jesus,  in  the  midst  of 
all  this  magnificence  and  these  honours,  shall  feel 
no  new  satisfaction,  and  have  no  relish  of  all  this 
joy,  above  what  he  possessed  while  his  church  lay 
bleeding  on  earth,  and  this  illustrious  company  were 
buried  under  ground  in  the  chains  of  death?  And 
yet  you  will  say  Christ  in  heaven  is  made  perfect  in 
knowledge  and  in  joy,  but  his  perfection  admits  of 
improvement. 

Now  if  the  Head  be  not  above  the  capacity  of  all 
growth  and  addition,  surely  the  members  cannot  pre- 
tend to  it.  But  I shall  propose  several  more  argu- 
ments for  this  truth  in  the  following  section. 

SECTION  IV. 

OF  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  SAINTS  ABOVE  IN  KNOWLEDGE, 
HOLINESS,  AND  JOY. 

That  there  is,  and  has  been,  and  will  be  conti- 
nual progress  and  improvement  in  the  knowledge 
and  joy  of  separate  souls,  may  be  easily  proved  many 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  491 

ways,  namely,  from  the  very  nature  of  human  rea- 
son itself;  from  the  narrowness,  the  weakness,  and 
limitation  even  of  our  intellectual  faculties  in  their 
best  estate;  from  the  immense  variety  of  objects 
that  we  shall  converse  about;  from  our  peculiar  con- 
cern in  some  future  providences,  which  it  is  not  like- 
ly we  should  know  before  they  occur;  and  from  the 
glorious  new  scenes  of  the  resurrection. 

1.  We  may  prove  the  increase  of  knowledge 
among  the  blessed  above,  from  the  very  nature  of 
human  reason  itself,  which  is  a faculty  of  drawing 
inferences,  or  some  new  propositions  and  conclusions, 
from  propositions  or  principles  which  we  knew  be- 
fore. Now  surely  we  shall  not  be  dispossessed  of  this 
power  when  we  come  to  heaven.  What  we  learn  of 
God  there,  and  the  glories  of  his  nature,  or  his  works, 
will  assist  and  incline  us  to  draw  inferences  for  his 
honour,  and  for  our  worship  of  him.  And  if  we 
could  be  supposed  to  have  never  so  many  proposi- 
tions or  new  principles  of  knowledge  crowded  into 
our  minds  at  the  first  entrance  into  heaven,  yet  surely 
our  reasoning  faculty  would  still  be  capable  of 
making  some  advance  by  way  of  inference,  or  build- 
ing some  superstructure  upon  so  noble  a foundation. 
And  who  knows  the  intense  pleasure  that  will  arise 
perpetually  to  a contemplative  mind,  by  a progres- 
sive and  infinite  pursuit  of  truth  in  this  manner, 
where  we  are  secure  against  the  danger  of  all  error 
and  mistake,  and  every  step  we  take  is  all  light  and 
demonstration. 

Shall  it  be  objected  here,  that  our  reason  shall  be 
as  it  were  lost  and  dissolved  in  intuition  and  imme- 
diate sight,  and  therefore  it  shall  have  no  room  or 
place  in  that  happy  world? 

To  this  I would  reply,  That  we  shall  have  indeed 
much  more  acquaintance  with  spiritual  objects  by 
immediate  intuition,  than  we  ever  had  here  on 
earth;  but  it  does  not  follow  thence  that  we  shall 


492  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

lose  our  reason.  Angels  have  immediate  vision  of 
God  and  divine  things;  but  can  we  suppose  they 
are  utterly  incapable  of  drawing  an  inference,  either 
for  the  improvement  of  their  knowledge,  or  the  di- 
rection of  their  practice?  YVhen  they  behold  any 
special  and  more  curious  piece  of  divine  workman- 
ship, can  they  not  farther  infer  the  exquisite  skill 
or  wisdom  of  the  Creator?  And  are  they  not  capa- 
ble of  concluding,  that  this  peculiar  instance  of  di- 
vine wisdom  demands  an  adoring  thought?  Thus 
intuition  or  immediate  sight  in  a creature,  does  not 
utterly  exclude  and  forbid  the  use  of  reason. 

I reply  again,  Can  it  ever  be  imagined,  that  being 
released  from  the  body,  we  shall  possess  in  one  mo- 
ment, and  retain  through  every  moment  of  eternity, 
all  the  innumerable  ranks,  and  orders,  and  numbers 
of  propositions,  truths,  and  duties,  that  may  be  de- 
rived in  a long  succession  of  ages  by  the  use  of  our 
reasoning  powers?  But  this  leads  me  to  the  second 
argument,  namely. 

2.  The  weakness  and  narrowness  of  human  un- 
derstandings in  their  best  estate,  seems  to  make  it 
necessary  that  knowledge  should  be  progressive. 

Continual  improvement  in  knowledge  and  de- 
light among  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  is 
necessary  for  the  same  reason  that  proved  their 
variety  of  their  entertainments  and  pleasures,  namely, 
Because  creatures  cannot  take  in  all  the  vast,  the 
infinite  variety  of  conceptions  in  the  full  brightness 
and  perfection  of  them  at  once,  of  which  they  are 
capable  in  a sweet  succession.  Can  we  ever  per- 
suade ourselves,  that  all  the  endless  train  of  thoughts, 
and  ideas,  and  scenes  of  joy,  that  shall  ever  pass 
through  the  mind  of  a saint  through  the  long  ages  of 
eternity,  should  be  crowded  into  every  single  mind 
the  first  moment  of  its  entrance  into  those  happy 
regions?  And  is  a human  mind  capacious  enough 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  493 

to  receive,  and  strong  enough  to  retain  such  an  in- 
finite multitude  of  ideas  for  ever?  Or  is  this  the 
manner  of  God’s  working  among  his  intellectual 
creatures?  Surely  God  knows  our  frame,  and  pours 
in  light  and  glory  as  we. are  able  to  bear  it.  Such 
a bright  confusion  of  notions,  images,  and  transports, 
would  probably  overwhelm  the  most  exalted  spirit, 
and  drown  all  the  noble  faculties  of  the  mind  at 
once.  As  if  a man  who  was  born  blind  should  be 
healed  in  an  instant,  and  should  open  his  eyes  first 
against  the  full  blaze  of  the  noon-day  sun ; this  would 
so  tumultuate  the  spirits,  and  confound  the  organs 
of  sight,  as  to  reduce  the  man  back  again  to  his  first 
blindness,  and  perhaps  might  render  him  incurable 
for  ever. 

3.  This  argument  will  be  much  strengthened,  if 
we  do  but  take  a short  view  of  the  vast  and  incom- 
prehensible variety  of  objects  that  may  be  proposed 
to  our  minds  in  the  future  state,  and  may  feast  our 
contemplation,  and  improve  our  joy. 

The  blessed  God  himself  is  an  infinite  Being; 
his  perfections  and  glories  are  unbounded;  his  wis- 
dom, his  holiness,  his  goodness,  his  faithfulness,  his 
power  and  justice,  his  all-sufficiency,  his  self-origina- 
tion, and  his  unfathomable  eternity,  have  such  a num- 
ber of  rich  ideas  belonging  to  each  of  them,  that  no 
creature  shall  ever  fully  understand.  Yet  it  is  but 
reasonable  to  believe,  that  he  will  communicate  so 
much  of  himself  to  us  by  degrees,  as  he  sees  neces- 
sary for  our  business  and  blessedness  in  that  upper 
world.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  we  should  know 
every  thing  that  belongs  to  God  all  at  once,  which 
he  may  discover  to  us  gradually  as  our  capacities 
improve?  Can  we  think  that  an  infant-soul  that 
had  no  time  for  improvement  here,  when  it  enters 
into  heaven  shall  know  every  thing  concerning  God, 
that  it  can  ever  attain  to  through  all  the  ages  of 
43 


494  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

its  immortality?  When  a blessed  spirit  has  dwelt  in 
heaven  a thousand  years,  and  conversed  with  God 
and  Christ,  angels  and  fellow-spirits  during  all  that 
season,  shall  it  know  nothing  more  of  the  nature 
and  wondrous  properties  of  God  than  it  knew  the 
first  moment  of  its  arrival  there ?* 

But  I add  farther,  the  works  of  God  shall  doubt- 
less be  the  matter  of  our  search  and  delightful  survey 
as  well  as  the  nature  and  properties  of  God  himself. 
His  works  are  honourable  and  glorious,  and  sought 
out  of  all  that  have  pleasure  in  them,  Psalm  cxi.  2, 
3.  In  his  works  we  shall  read  his  name,  his  pro- 
perties, and  his  glories,  whether  we  fix  our  thoughts 
on  creation  or  providence. 

The  works  of  God  and  his  wonders  of  creation  in 
the  known  and  unknown  worlds,  both  as  to  the  num- 
ber, the  variety,  and  vastness  of  them,  are  almost 
infinite;  that  is,  they  transcend  all  the  limits  of  our 
ideas,  and  all  our  present  capacities  to  conceive. 
Now7  there  is  none  of  these  works  of  wonder,  but 
may  administer  some  entertainment  to  the  mind  of 
man,  and  may  richly  furnish  him  with  new  matter 
for  the  praise  of  God  in  the  long  succession  of 
eternity. 

There  is  scarcely  an  animal  of  the  more  complete 
kind,  but  would  entertain  an  angel  with  rich  curiosi- 
ties, and  feed  his  contemplation  for  an  age.  What 
a rich  and  artful  structure  of  flesh  upon  the  solid  and 
well-compacted  foundation  of  bones!  What  curi- 
ous joints  and  hinges,  on  w7hich  the  limbs  are  moved 
to  and  fro ! What  an  inconceivable  variety  of  nerves, 
veins,  arteries,  fibres,  and  little  invisible  parts,  are 
found  in  every  member!  What  various  fluids,  blood 
and  juices,  run  through  and  agitate  the  innumerable 

* God  himself  hath  infinite  goodness  in  him,  which  the  creature 
cannot  take  in  at  once ; they  are  taking  of  it  in  eternally.  The 
saints  see  in  God  still  things  fresh,  which  they  saw  not  in  the  be- 
ginning of  their  blessedness. — Dr.  T.  Goodwin. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  495 

slender  tubes,  the  hollow  strings  and  strainers  of  the 
body!  What  millions  of  folding  doors  are  fixed 
within,  to  stop  those  red  or  transparent  rivulets  in 
their  course,  either  to  prevent  their  return  backwards 
or  else  as  a means  to  swell  the  muscles  and  move  the 
limbs!  What  endless  contrivances  to  secure  life, 
to  nourish  nature,  and  to  propagate  the  same  to  future 
animals!  What  amazing  lengths  of  holy  meditation 
would  an  angel  run  upon  these  subjects  ! And  what 
sublime  strains  of  praise  would  a heavenly  philoso- 
pher raise  hourly  to  the  almighty  and  all-wise  Crea- 
tor! And  all  this  from  the  mere  brutal  world! 

But  if  we  survey  the  nature  of  man,  he  is  a crea- 
ture made  up  of  mind  and  animal  united,  and  would 
furnish  still  more  numerous  and  exalted  materials 
for  contemplation  and  praise;  for  he  has  all  the  rich- 
est wonders  of  animal  nature  in  him,  besides  the  un- 
known mysteries  of  mind  or  spirit.  Surely  it  will 
create  a sacred  pleasure  in  happy  souls  above,  to 
learn  the  wonders  of  divine  skill  exerted  and  shining 
in  their  own  formation,  and  in  the  curious  workman- 
ship of  those  bodily  engines  in  which  they  once 
dwelt  and  acted. 

Then  let  them  descend  to  herbs  and  plants.  How 
numerous  are  all  the  products  of  earth  upon  her 
green  surface,  and  all  within  her  dark  bowels!  All 
the  vegetable  and  the  mineral  kingdoms!  How  many 
centuries  would  all  these  entertain  a heavenly  in- 
quirer! 

The  worlds  of  air,  and  the  worlds  of  water,  the 
planetary  and  the  starry  worlds,  are  still  new  objects 
rich  with  curiosities;  these  are  all  monuments  of 
divine  wisdom,  and  fit  subjects  for  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  blessed.  Nor  can  we  be  supposed  to 
have  for  ever  done  with  them  all  when  we  leawe  this 
body,  and  that  for  two  reasons:  one  is,  because 
God  has  never  yet  received  the  honour  due  to  his 
wisdom  and  power,  displayed  in  the  material  crea- 


496  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

tion,  from  the  hands  or  tongues  of  men.  And  the 
other  is,  because  the  spirits  of  the  just  shall  be 
joined  to  bodies  again,  and  then  they  shall  certainly 
have  necessary  converse  with  God’s  material  works 
and  worlds;  though  perhaps  they  have  more  ac- 
quaintance with  them  now  in  their  separate  state, 
than  we  are  apprized  of. 

And  besides  all  these  material  works  of  God,  what 
an  unknown  variety  of  other  wonders  belong  to  the 
world  of  pure  spirits,  which  lie  hid  from  us,  and  are 
utterly  concealed  behind  the  veil  of  flesh  and  blood  ! 
What  are  their  natures,  arid  the  reach  of  their 
powers.  Into  what  ranks  and  orders  they  are  dis- 
tributed. What  are  their  governments,  their  seve- 
ral employments,  the  different  customs  and  manners 
of  life  in  the  various  and  most  extensive  regions  of 
that  intellectual  world.  What  are  their  messages 
to  our  earth,  or  the  other  habitable  globes,  and 
what  capacities  they  are  endowed  with  to  move  or 
influence  animate  or  inanimate  bodies.  All  these, 
and  a thousand  more  of  the  like  nature,  are  made 
known,  doubtless,  to  the  inhabitants  of  heaven. 
These  are  things  that  belong  to  the  provinces  of 
light  and  immortality,  but  many  of  them  are  myste- 
ries to  us  who  dwell  in  these  tabernacles;  they  lie 
far  beyond  our  ken,  and  are  wrapt  up  in  sacred  dark- 
ness, that  we  can  hardly  do  so  much  as  shoot  a guess 
at  them. 

Now  can  we  suppose  that  the  meanest  spirit  in 
heaven  has  a full  and  entire  survey  of  all  these  in- 
numerable works  of  God,  from  the  first  moment  of 
its  entrance  thither,  throughout  all  the  ages  of  im- 
mortality, without  the  change  of  one  idea,  or  the 
possibility  of  any  improvement?  This  would  be  to 
give  a sort  of  omniscience  to  every  happy  spirit, 
which  is  more  than  is  generally  allowed  to  the  man 
Christ  Jesus.  And  if  there  be  such  a thing  as 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  497 

degrees  of  glory  among  the  saints  above,  we  may  be 
well  assured  that  the  lowest  rank  of  blessed  spirits  is 
not  advanced  to  this  amazing  degree. 

Is  there  no  new  thing,  neither  under  nor  above 
the  sun,  that  God  can  entertain  any  of  his  children 
with  in  the  upper  world,  throughout  the  infinite 
extent  of  all  future  ages?  Are  they  all  made  at 
once  so  much  like  God,  as  to  know  all  things?  Or 
if  each  of  them  have  their  stinted  size  of  knowledge, 
and  their  limited  number  of  ideas  at  their  first 
release  from  the  body,  then  .they  are  everlastingly 
cut  off  from  all  the  surprises  of  pleasure  that  arise 
from  new  thoughts  and  new  scenes,  and  new  dis- 
coveries. Does  every  saint  in  heaven  read  God’s 
great  volume  of  nature  through  and  through  the  first 
hour  it  arrives  there?  Or  is  each  spirit  confined  to 
a certain  number  of  leaves,  and  bound  eternally  to 
learn  nothing  new,  but  to  review  perpetually  his 
own  limited  lesson?  Dares  he  not,  or  can  he  not 
turn  over  another  leaf,  and  read  his  Creator’s  name 
in  it,  and  adore  his  wisdom  in  new  wonders  of  con- 
trivance? These  things  are  improbable  to  such  a 
high  degree,  that  I dare  almost  pronounce  them  un- 
true. 

The  book  of  providence  is  another  volume  in 
which  God  writes  his  name  too.  Has  every  single 
saint  such  a vast  and  infinite  length  of  foreknowledge 
given  him  at  his  first  admission  into  glory,  that  he 
knows  beforehand  all  the-  future  scenes  of  provi- 
dence, and  the  wonders  which  God  shall  work  in  the 
upper  and  lower  worlds?  I thought  the  ‘‘Lion  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  and  the  Offspring  of 
David,”  had  been  “the  only  person  in  heaven  or  earth 
that  was  worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  loose  the 
seven  seals  thereof;’’  Rev.  v.  5.  Surely  the  meanest 
of  the  saints  does  not  foreknow  all  those  great  and 
important  counsels  of  God,  with  which  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  is  intrusted.  And  yet  we  may  venture 

43* 


498  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

to  say,  that  the  spirits  of  the  just  in  heaven  shall 
know  those  great  and  important  events  that  relate 
to  the  church  on  earth,  as  they  arise  in  successive 
seasons,  that  they  may  give  to  God  and  to  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ  revenues  of  due  honour  upon  this  ac- 
count, as  I shall  prove  immediately. 

And  indeed  if  the  limits  of  their  knowledge  in 
heaven  were  so  fixed  at  their  first  entrance  there, 
that  they  could  never  be  acquainted  with  any  of 
these  successive  providences  of  God  afterwards,  we 
here  on  earth  have  a great  advantage  above  them, 
who  see  daily  the  accomplishment  of  his  divine 
counsels,  and  adore  the  wonders  of  his  wisdom  and 
his  love;  and  from  this  daily  increase  of  knowledge 
we  take  our  share  in  the  growing  joys  and  blessings 
of  Zion. 

But  this  thought  leads  me  to  the  fourth  argument 
for  the  increase  of  knowledge  in  heaven. 

4.  There  have  been,  and  there  are  many  future 
providences  on  earth,  and  transactions  in  heaven,  in 
which  the  spirits  of  the  just  have  a very  great  and 
dear  concernment,  aud  therefore  they  must  know 
them  when  they  come  to  pass;  and  yet  it  is  by  no 
means  probable,  that  they  are  known  in  all  their 
glorious  circumstances  beforehand  by  every  spirit  in 
heaven. 

Let  us  descend  a little  to  some  particular  instances, 
and  see  whether  we  cannot  make  it  appear  from 
scripture,  with  most  convincing  evidence,  that  the 
saints  in  heaven  obtain  some  additions  to  their  know- 
ledge, by  the  various  new  transactions  in  heaven  and 
in  earth. 

When  our  blessed  Lord  had  fulfilled  his  state  of 
sorrows  and  sufferings  on  earth,  and  ascended  into 
heaven  in  his  glorified  human  nature,  with  all  the 
scars  of  honour,  and  the  ensigns  of  victory  about 
him;  when  the  Lamb  appeared  in  the  midst  of 
the  throne  with  the  marks  of  slaughter  and  death 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  499 

upon  him,  and  presented  himself  before  God  in  the 
midst  of  angels  and  ancient  patriarchs,  with  the  ac- 
complishment of  all  the  types  and  promises  about 
him  written  in  letters  of  blood;  did  not  those  bless- 
ed angels,  did  not  the  spirits  of  those  patriarchs, 
learn  something  more  of  the  mysteries  of  our  redemp- 
tion, and  the  wondrous  glories  of  the  Redeemer,  than 
what  they  were  acquainted  with  before?  And  did 
not  this  new  glorious  scene  spread  new  ideas,  new 
joys  and  wonders  through  all  the  heavenly  world? 
Can  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places 
gain  by  the  church  on  earth  any  farther  discoveries 
of  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God?  Eph.  iii.  10.  And 
can  we  believe  that  when  Christ,  the  head  of  the 
church,  entered  into  heaven  in  so  illustrious  a man- 
ner, that  these  powers,  principalities,  and  blessed 
spirits,  got  no  brighter  discoveries  of  divine  wisdom? 
To  what  purpose  do  they  look  and  pry  into  these 
things,  1 Pet.  i.  12,  if  after  all  their  searches  they 
make  no  advances  in  knowledge?  And  must  angels 
be  the  only  proficients  in  these  sublime  sciences, 
while  human  spirits  make  no  improvement?  Can  it 
be  supposed  that  those  ancient  fathers,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  Jacob,  to  whom  the  promises  were  made,  that 
all  the  nations  should  be  blessed  in  their  seed,  had 
no  transporting  pleasures,  when  they  first  beheld 
that  promised  seed  crowned  with  all  his  glory? 
When  they  saw  their  Son  Jesus  ascending  on  high, 
and  leading  captivity  captive,  and  the  chariots  of  God 
that  attended  him  were  twenty  thousand,  even  an 
innumerable  company  of  angels;  Psal.  lxviii.  17,  18. 

If  upon  this  occasion  we  may  talk  in  the  language 
of  mortals,  may  we  not  suppose  those  ancient  Fathers 
raising  themselves  on  high,  and  overlooking  the  walls 
of  paradise,  to  gaze  downward  upon  this  ascending 
triumph?  May  we  not  imagine  them  speaking  thus 
to  each  other  in  the  holy  transport?  “ And  is  this  our 
great  descendant?  Is  this  our  long  expected  off- 


500  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

spring?  How  divine  his  aspect ! How  God-like  his 
air ! How  glorious  and  adorable  all  the  graces  of  his 
countenance ! Is  this  (saith  holy  David)  my  Son  and 
my  Lord?  the  king  of  glory,  for  whose  admission 
I called  the  gates  of  heaven  to  be  lifted  up,  and 
opened  the  everlasting  doors  for  him  in  an  ancient 
song?  Is  this  the  man  whose  hands  and  whose  feet 
they  pierced  on  earth,  as  I once  foretold  by  the  spi- 
rit of  prophecy?  I see  those  blessed  scars  of  honour 
how  they  adorn  his  glorified  limbs!  I acknowledge 
and  adore  my  God  and  my  Saviour.  I begun  his 
triumph  once  on  my  harp  in  a lower  strain,  and  I 
behold  him  now  ascending  on  high;  awake  my 
glory;  he  comes,  he  comes  with  the  sound  of  a trum- 
pet, and  with  the  pomp  of  shouting  angels;  sing 
praises,  all  ye  saints,  unto  our  God,  sing  praises, 
sing  praises  unto  our  king,  sing  praises.  Is  this, 
saith  Isaiah,  the  child  born,  of  whom  I spoke?  Is 
this  the  Son  given,  of  whom  I prophesied?  I adore 
him  as  the  mighty  God,  the  Father  of  ages,  and  the 
Prince  of  peace.  I see  the  righteous  branch,  adds 
the  prophet  Jeremy,  the  righteous  branch  from  the 
stem  of  David,  from  the  root  of  Jesse.  This  is  the 
King  whom  I foretold  should  reign  in  righteousness; 
the  Lord  my  righteousness  is  his  name,  I rejoice  at 
his  appearance,  the  throne  of  heaven  is  made  ready 
for  him.  This  (saith  Daniel)  is  the  Messiah  the 
Prince,,  who  was  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself:  the 
seventy  weeks  are  all  fulfilled,  and  the  work  is 
done.  He  hath  finished  transgression,  and  made  an 
end  of  sin,  and  hath  brought  in  everlasting  righ- 
teousness for  all  his  people.  But  was  this  the  per- 
son (saith  Zachary  the  prophet)  whom  they  sold  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver?  Vile  indignity  and  impious 
madness!  Behold  he  now  appears  like  the  man  who 
is  fellow,  or  companion  to  the  Lord  of  hosts.  It  is 
he  (saith  Malachi)  it  is  he,  the  messenger  of  the 
covenant,  who  came  suddenly  to  his  own  temple. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OP  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  501 

There  I held  him  in  my  withered  arms,  (saith  aged 
Simeon)  and  rapture  and  prophecy  came  upon  me  at 
once,  and  I expired  in  joy  and  praises/’ 

And  we  hope  our  mother  Eve  stood  up  among  the 
rest  of  them,  and  beheld  and  confessed  the  promised 
Seed  of  the  woman.  “O  blessed  Saviour,  that  didst 
break  the  head  of  the  serpent,  though  thy  heel  was 
bruised,  and  hast  abolished  the  mischief  that  my 
folly  and  his  temptation  had  brought  into  thy  new- 
created  world !” 

Now  could  we  ever  suppose  all  this  to  be  done  in 
the  upper  regions,  with  no  new  smiles  upon  the 
countenances  of  the  saints,  no  special  increase  of  joy 
among  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect?  God 
himself  stands  in  no  need  of  the  magnificence  of  these 
transactions ; Christ  Jesus  receives  the  new  honours, 
and  all  the  old  inhabitants  of  heaven  taste  new  and 
unknown  satisfaction  in  the  honours  they  pay  to 
their  exalted  Saviour. 

Some  of  the  ancients  were  of  opinion,  that  the 
souls  of  the  fathers  before  the  ascension  of  Christ 
were  not  admitted  into  the  holy  of  holies,  or  the  bliss- 
ful vision  of  God ; but  that  it  was  our  Lord  Jesus, 
our  great  High  Priest  at  his  ascent  to  the  throne,  led 
the  way  thither;  he  rent  the  veil  of  the  lower  hea- 
ven, and  carried  with  him  the  armies  of  patriarchal 
souls  into  some  upper,  and  brighter,  and  more  joyful 
regions,  whereas  before  they  were  only  admitted 
into  a state  of  peace  and  rest.  Whether  this  be  so 
or  not,  the  scripture  does  not  sufficiently  declare ; 
but  in  whatsoever  region  of  heaven  they  were  placed, 
we  may  be  well  assured,  from  the  very  nature  of 
things,  that  such  transactions  as  the  triumphant  as- 
cent of  Christ,  could  never  pass  through  any  of  the 
upper  worlds,  without  enlarging  the  knowledge  and 
the  joy  of  the  blessed  inhabitants. 

When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sat  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  he  prevailed  to  open  the  book 


502  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

of  divine  counsels  and  decrees,  Rev.  v.  5,  and  to 
acquaint  himself  with  all  the  contents;  and  this 
was  necessary,  that  he  might  manage  and  govern 
the  affairs  of  the  church  and  the  world  in  the  several 
successive  ages,  according  to  the  counsels  of  the 
Father.  He  therefore,  and  he  alone  among  creatures, 
knows  the  end  from  the  beginning,  as  I hinted  be- 
fore. But  as  the  seals  of  this  book  are  opened  by 
degrees,  and  the  counsels  of  God  are  executed  in 
the  lower  world,  doubtless  the  angels  that  are  minis- 
ters of  the  providence  of  Christ,  carry  tidings  to  hea- 
ven of  all  the  greater  changes  that  relate  to  the 
church;  and  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  the  King  of  saints 
and  of  nations,  receives  the  shouts  and  honours  of 
the  heavenly  world,  as  fast  as  the  joyful  tidings  ar- 
rive thither. 

Nor  is  this  spoken  by  mere  conjecture,  for  the 
scripture  informs  us  of  the  certainty  of  it.  We  have 
frequently  accounts  in  the  book  of  Revelation  of 
new  special  honours,  that  were  paid  to  him  that  sits 
upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  at  certain  special 
periods  of  time. 

When  he  first  took  upon  him  the  execution  of 
his  Father’s  decrees,  “The  living  creatures  and 
elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  and  they  sung  a 
new  song,  saying,  Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book, 
and  to  open  the  seals  thereof ; and  ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand  angels  echoed  (to  the  song)  with 
a loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,” 
&c.  Rev.  v.  8,  9,  11.  So  when  the  servants  of 
God  were  sealed  in  their  foreheads,  the  innumerable 
multitude  of  saints  shouted,  “ Salvation  to  our  God, 
which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,’’ 
Rev.  vii.  3,  9,  10.  So,  “When  the  seventh  angel 
sounded,  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying, 
The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall 
reign  for  ever  and  ever;  and  the  four  and  twenty 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  503 

elders  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  worshipped  and 
gave  thanks;”  Rev.  xi.  15,  16.  Again,  when  the 
old  dragon  and  his  angels  were  cast  put  of  heaven, 
there  was  a loud  voice,  saying,  “ Now  is  come  sal- 
vation and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God, 
and  the  power  of  his  Christ;  for  the  accuser  of 
our  brethren  is  cast  down;”  Rev.  xii.  9,  10.  So 
upon  the  fall  of  Babylon,  chap,  xiv.,  and  the  victory 
of  the  saints,  chap,  xv.,  and  the  final  destruction  of 
Antichrist,  chap,  xix.,  there  are  new  honours  done 
by  the  saints  to  God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus. 
There  are  new  songs  addressed  to  them  at  these 
surprising  revolutions  on  earth,  these  wondrous  turns 
of  judgment  on  the  world  and  mercy  to  the  church ; 
all  which  supposes  that  the  heavenly  inhabitants  are 
acquainted  with  them,  and  thus  their  knowledge  and 
their  joys  increase. 

Objection.  But  does  not  the  prophet  Isaiah  say 
in  the  name  of  the  church  of  Israel,  Abraham  is 
ignorant  of  us,  and  Israel  acknowledges  us  not?  Isa. 
lxiii.  16. 

Answer  1.  The  words  knowledge  and  acknow- 
ledgment often  signify  a friendly  and  beneficial 
care  manifested  in  special  acts  of  kindness  and 
benefits  conferred.  Therefore  the  tribe  of  Levi  is 
said  neither  to  have  seen  his  father  nor  his  mother, 
nor  to  acknowledge  his  brethren,  nor  to  know  his 
own  children;  Deut.  xxxiii.  9,  because  the  sons  of 
Levi  slew  every  man  his  brother,  and  every  man  his 
neighbour,  to- execute  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord 
upon  them;  Exod.  xxxii.  26 — 29.  So  Abraham 
and  Israel  in  heaven,  in  the  same  sense,  know  not 
their  posterity  on  earth,  when  they  approve  of  the 
anger  of  God  let  out  upon  them,  and  afford  them  no 
defence.  This  interpretation  perfectly  agrees  with 
the  context.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  Abraham 
and  Israel  were  utterly  unacquainted  with  all  the 


504  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

greater  events  of  providence  towards  the  Jewish 
nation,  though  perhaps  they  might  not  know  the 
lesser  and  more  minute  circumstances  of  their  afflic- 
tions or  their  deliverances. 

Answer  2.  If  we  could  suppose  that  the  souls  of 
the  ancient  patriarchs  were  ignorant  of  the  affairs  of 
their  posterity  before  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  yet 
since  Christ  in  our  nature  now  dwells  in  the  midst 
of  them,  and  has  taken  the  book  of  divine  counsels 
into  his  own  hands,  since  the  great  God-man  rules 
all  things  in  the  upper  and  the  lower  worlds,  it  is 
not  probable  that  Abraham  and  Israel  are  so  ig- 
norant of  the  affairs  of  the  church,  as  they  were  in 
the  days  of  Isaiah. 

And  not  only  the  greater  and  more  extensive  dis- 
pensations that  attend  the  church  on  earth,  are  made 
known  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect;  but 
even  some  lesser  and  particular  concerns  are  very 
probably  revealed  to  them  also. 

Is  it  not  said,  that  when  one  sinner  on  earth 
repents,  there  is  joy  among  the  angels  in  heaven? 
Luke  xv.  7,  10.  For  every  such  convert  is  a new 
trophy  of  divine  grace.  And  when  the  spirits  of 
the  just  in  heaven  shall  in  successive  seasons  behold 
one  and  another  of  their  old  relatives  and  acquain- 
tance on  earth  entering  in  at  the  gates,  and  received 
into  heaven,  can  we  imagine  there  is  no  new  joy 
amongst  them?  Do  the  pleasures  of  angels  in- 
crease when  they  see  a man  brought  into  the  state 
of  grace,  and  shall  not  the  souls  of  men  testify  their 
exultation  and  delight,  when  they  see  one  of  their 
fellow-souls,  perhaps  a dear  and  inward  friend, 
translated  to  the  state  of  glory?  Surely  every  in- 
crease of  that  happy  world  shall  diffuse  increasing 
joy  through  the  holy  ones  that  dwell  in  it?  and 
those  shall  have  the  sweetest  taste  of  this  joy  that 
had  the  dearest  concern  in  it.  O the  transporting 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  505 

and  celestial  gratulations  that  pass  between  two  souls 
of  intimate  endearment  at  their  first  meeting  there! 

The  last  argiynent  that  I shall  use,  and  it  is  also 
the  last  instance  I shall  mention,  wherein  the  know- 
ledge and  the  pleasure  of  glorified  saints  must  re- 
ceive addition  and  improvement,  is,  the  great  resur- 
rection-day. 

The  spirits  of  men  are  formed  on  purpose  for 
union  with  bodies,  and  if  they  could  attain  complete 
happiness  in  the  highest  degree  without  them,,  what 
need  would  there  be  of  new  creating  their  bodies 
from  the  dust?  Upon  this  supposition  the  resurrec- 
tion itself  must  seem  to  be  almost  in  vain.  But  it 
is  evident  from  the  word  of  God,  that  the  spirits  of 
the  just,  with  all  the  perfections  that  belong  to  a 
separate  state,  wait  yet  for  greater  perfection  when 
their  bodies  shall  be  restored  to  them;  for  as  they 
suffered  pain  and  agony  in  the  body,  they  shall  have 
a recompense  of  pleasure  in  the  body  too.  All  the 
days  of  their  appointed  time  they  wait,  till  this  bless- 
ed change  shall  come;  Job  xiv.  14.  God  shall  call, 
and  the  dust  of  the  saints  shall  answer;  God  the 
Creator  will  have  a desire  again  to  the  work  of  his 
own  hands,  ver.  15,  and  the  happy  souls  will  have  a 
desire  to  be  rejoined  to  their  old  companions. 

O glorious  hour!  O blessed  meeting-time!  A 
magnificent  and  divine  spectacle,  worthy  to  attract 
the  eyes  of  all  the  creation ! When  the  long-divided 
parts  of  human  nature  shall  be  united  with  unknown 
powers  and  glories!  When  these  bodies  shall  be 
called  out  of  their  long  dark  dungeon,  all  fashioned 
anew,  and  all  new  dressed  in  immortality  and  sun- 
beams! When  these  spirits  shall  assume  and  ani- 
mate their  limbs  again,  exulting  in  new  life  and 
everlasting  vigour! 

Now  can  we  suppose  it  possible  that  all  this  vast 
and  amazing  change  shall  be  made  by  the  conflagra- 
44 


506  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

tion  of  the  earth  and  the  lower  heavens,  by  the  aw- 
ful and  illustrious  splendours  and  solemnities  of  the 
last  judgment,  by  the  bodies  of  millions  of  saints 
and  sinners  rising  into  a painful  or  joyful  immortali- 
ty, and  yet  no  new  ideas  hereby  communicated  to 
the  happy  spirits;  no  increase  of  their  knowledge,  or 
improvement  of  their  joys? 

Shall  the  apostles  and  the  prophets,  the  confessors 
and  the  martyrs,  stand  at  the  right  hand  of  Christ, 
and  be  owned  and  acknowledged  by  him  with 
divine  applause  in  the  sight  of  the  whole  creation, 
and  yet  have  no  new  transports  of  pleasure  running 
through  their  souls?  Shall  they  be  absolved  and 
approved  by  the  voice  of  God,  with  thousands  of 
applauding  angels,  in  the  face  of  heaven,  earth,  and 
hell,  and  all  this  without  any  advancement  of  their 
knowledge,  or  their  blessedness?  Shall  St.  Paul 
meet  the  Thessalonian  converts  in  the  presence  of 
his  Lord  Jesus,  those  souls  who  were  once  his  la- 
bour and  his  hope,  and  shall  they  not  at  that  day  ap- 
pear to  be  his  glory  and  his  joy  ? Does  not  he  him- 
self tell  them  so  in  his  first  epistle,  chap.  ii.  ver.  19, 
20?  And  can  we  believe  that  he  or  they  shall  be 
disappointed?  Shall  that  great  apostle  see  the  im- 
mense fruits  of  his  labours,  the  large  harvest  of  souls 
which  he  gathered  from  many  provinces  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  all  appearing  at  once  in  their  robes  of 
light  and  victory,  and  shall  he  feel  no  new  inward 
exultations  of  spirit  at  such  a sight?  And  doubtless 
many  thousand  souls,  whom  he  never  knew  on  earth, 
shall  be  made  known  to  him  at  that  day,  and  own 
their  conversion  to  his  sacred  writings.  And  shall 
all  this  make  no  addition  to  his  pleasures?  The 
very  mention  of  so  absurd  a doctrine  refutes  and  con- 
demns itself. 

The  saints  at  that  day  shall,  as  it  were,  be  brought 
into  a new  world,  and  he  that  sits  upon  the  throne 
shall  make  all  things  new;  and  as  he  crowns  his 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  507 

happy  followers  with  new  and  unknown  blessings, 
so  shall  he  receive  the  homage  of  new  and  unknown 
praises.  This  is  a new  heaven  and  a new  earth 
indeed,  beyond  all  our  present  apprehensions;  and 
the  magnificent  language  of  prophecy  shall  be  ful- 
filled in  its  utmost  force  and  brightness. 

Doubtless  there  are  pleasures  to  be  enjoyed  by 
complete  human  nature,  byimbodied  souls,  of  which 
a mere  separate  spirit  is  not  capable.  Is  it  not  part 
of  the  blessedness  of  human  spirits  to  enjoy  mutual 
society,  and  hold  a pleasing  correspondence  with 
each  other?  But  whatsoever  be  the  means  and  me- 
thods of  that  correspondence  in  a separate  state, 
surely  it  wants  something  of  that  complete  pleasure 
and  sensible  intimacy,  which  they  shall  be  made 
partakers  of  when  they  shall  hold  noble  communion 
in  their  bodies  raised  from  the  dust,  and  refined 
from  every  weakness.  Is  it  not  the  happiness  of 
the  saints  in  heaven  to  see  their  glorified  Saviour? 
But  even  this  sight  is  and  must  be  incomplete,  till 
they  are  endued  with  bodily  organs  again.  What 
converse  soever  the  spirits  of  the  just  have  with 
the  glorified  man  Jesus,  while  they  are  absent  from 
the  body,  yet  I am  persuaded  it  is  not,  nor  can  it 
be  so  full  and  perfect  in  all  respects  as  it  shall  be  at 
the  general  resurrection.  They  cannot  now  see 
him  face  to  face  in  the  literal  sense,  and  they  wait 
for  this  exalted  pleasure,  this  immediate  and  bea- 
tific sight.  Job  himself  yet  waits,  though  the  worms 
have  destroyed  his  body,  till  that  glorious  hour,  when 
in  his  flesh  he  shall  see  God,  Job  xix.  26,  even  God, 
his  Redeemer,  who  shall  stand  at  the  last  day  on  the 
earth ; ver.  25. 

Not  only  all  the  saints  on  earth,  who  have  received 
the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  wrait  for  the  adoption, 
that  is,  the  redemption  of  the  body;  Rom.  viii.  23; 
but  the  saints  in  heaven  also  live  there,  waiting  till 
the  body  be  redeemed  from  the  grave,  and  their  adop- 
tion shall  appear  with  illustrious  evidence:  then  they 


508  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

shall  all  look  like  the  sons  of  God,  like  Jesus,  the 
first-beloved  and  the  first-born.  The  spirits  above, 
how  perfect  soever  they  are  in  the  joys  of  the  sepa- 
rate state,  yet  wait  for  those  endless  scenes  of  un- 
known delight  that  shall  succeed  the  resurrection. 

And  there  is  abundant  reason  for  it,  to  be  drawn 
from  the  word  of  God;  for  the  scripture  speaks  but 
very  little  concerning  the  blessedness  of  separate  souls 
in  comparison  of  the  frequent  and  large  accounts  of 
the  glory  and  triumph  'that  shall  attend  the  sound 
of  the  last  trumpet,  and  the  great  rising-day.  It  is 
to  this  blessed  hour  that  the  apostles  in  their  wri- 
tings are  always  directing  the  hope  of  the  saints. 
They  are  ever  pointing  to  this  glorious  morning, 
as  the  season  when  they  shall  receive  their  reward 
and  their  prize,  their  promised  joy  and  their  crown ; 
as  though  all  that  they  had  received  before  in  then- 
state  of  separation,  were  hardly  to  be  named  in  com- 
parison of  that  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
additional  glory. 

What  new  kinds  of  sensations  shall  entertain  us 
in  that  day,  what  a rich  variety  of  senses  we  shall 
enjoy,  with  what  well-appointed  and  immortal  organs 
shall  we  be  furnished,  instead  of  our  present  feeble 
eyes  and  ears;  and  what  glorious  and  transporting 
objects  shall  surround  us  in  those  unknown  worlds, 
and  fill  the  enlarged  powers  of  the  soul  with  sensible 
as  well  as  intellectual  delights ! These  are  wonders 
too  sublime  even  for  our  present  conjecture,  and  are 
ail  reserved  in  the  counsels  of  God  to  complete  the 
final  felicity  of  the  saints. 

Thus  we  have  made  it  appear,  that  the  knowledge 
and  joy  that  belong  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect  may  admit  of  large  increase.* 

* There  is  a little  treatise,  called,  The  future  State,  displaying 
the  Progressive  knowledge  of  the  Blessed  in  Heaven,  written  by  a 
country  gentleman,  published  1683,  wherein  are  many  ingenious 
thoughts  on  this  subject. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  509 

But  can  their  holiness  be  increased  too?  Can  per- 
fect holiness  receive  any  improvement? 

I will  not  assert  any  thing  in  this  matter,  lest  the 
manner  of  expression  should  offend  weaker  minds; 
but  I desire  leave  to  inquire,  Whether  those  who 
know  most  of  God  do  not  love  him  best?  Whether 
those  who  have  the  brightest  and  fullest  visions  of 
him,  are  not  most  transformed  into  his  image,  and 
made  most  nearly  like  to  him?  Now  if  the  separate 
spirits  in  heaven  are  advanced  to  different  degrees 
of  divine  knowledge,  may  they  not  in  this  sense  have 
different  degrees  of  holiness  too?  Is  it  not  possible 
that  one  saint  should  love  God  more  intensely  than 
another,  and  be  more  impressed  with  his  likeness,  as 
he  beholds  more  of  his  beauty  ? Is  it  not  possible 
that  a soul  shall  grow  in  the  strength  and  fervour  of 
its  love  and  zeal  for  God,  and  be  more  exactly  assi- 
milated to  him,  as  it  gets  nearer  to  God,  and  grows 
up  into  higher  measures  of  acquaintance  with  him? 
Has  not  the  angel  Gabriel,  the  apostle  Paul,  and  the 
glorified  human  nature  of  Christ  in  any  respect  more 
of  holiness,  or  love,  or  likeness  to  God,  than  the  mean- 
est saint  or  angel  in  heaven?  Is  not  their  sublimer 
knowledge  and  nearness  to  God  attended  with  pro- 
portionable rays  of  divine  sanctity  and  glory  ? Is  not 
the  divine  image  in  these  exalted  saints  more  com- 
plete than  in  the  very  lowest? 

And  yet  we  may  boldly  assert,  that  the  meanest 
saint  or  angel  there  is  so  perfect  in  holiness,  as  to  be 
free  from  all  sin;  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in 
any  spirit  there,  contrary  to  the  nature  or  the  will 
of  God.  So  a soul  released  from  the  body  may 
perhaps  grow  in  likeness  and  love  to  God  perpetu- 
ally, and  yet  it  may  have  no  sinful  defects  either  in 
its  love  or  conformity  to  God  from  the  first  moment 
of  its  entrance  into  heaven. 

I shall  first  illustrate  this  by  two  similitudes,  and 

44* 


510  THE  HATPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

then  propose  a rational  and  clear  account  of  it  in  a 
way  of  argument. 

When  the  distant  morning  sun  shines  on  a piece 
of  polished  metal,  the  metal  reflects  the  face  of  the 
sun  in  perfection,  when  the  sun  first  rises  on  it.  But 
the  same  instruments  coming  directly  under  the 
meridian  sunbeams,  shall  reflect  the  same  image 
brighter  and  warmer;  and  yet  every  moment  of  this 
reflection  from  the  morning  to  the  highest  noon,  shall 
be  perfect;  that  is,  without  spot,  without  blemish, 
and  without  defect.  Such,  perhaps,  is  the  holiness 
of  all  the  saints  in  heaven. 

Or  shall  I rather  borrow  a similitude  from  scrip- 
ture, and  say,  the  holiness  of  the  spirits  in  heaven 
is  compared  to  fine  linen?  Rev.  xix.  8:  “The  fine 
linen  clean  and  white  is  the  righteousness  of  the 
saints,”  ta  dikaiomata  ton  agion.  Now  though  a 
garment  may  be  perfectly  clean  without  the  least 
spot  or  stain,  yet  fine  linen  may  grow  whiter  hourly, 
as  it  is  bleached  by  the  constant  influence  of  the  hea- 
vens. So  though  every  spirit  be  perfectly  cleansed 
and  purified  from  all  sin  and  defilement,  yet  it  is  not 
impossible  that  the  degrees  of  its  grace  and  holiness; 
or  conformity  to  God,  may  grow  brighter,  and  much 
improve  by  nearer  approaches  to  God,  longer  acquain- 
tance with  him,  and  the  continued  influences  of  his 
majesty  and  love. 

Now  let  me  propose  a rational  account  of  this 
matter  to  the  consideration  of  those  whose  minds  are 
raised  above  common  prejudices. 

The  holiness  of  an  innocent  creature  consists  in 
attaining  the  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  will  of 
God,  according  to  the  utmost  of  its  own  present 
capacity,  and  the  means  of  discovery  which  it  enjoys, 
and  in  the  various  exercises  of  love  to  God  in  an 
exact  proportion  to  its  knowledge;  or  to  express  it 
briefly  thus:  An  innocent  creature  is  perfectly  holy, 
when  it  knows  and  loves  God  to  the  utmost  reach 


THE  HAPPINESS  OP  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  51 1 

of  its  present  powers.  If  this  be  done,  there  is  no 
sinful  defect,  no  guilty  imperfection;  and  yet  there 
may  be  almost  an  infinite  difference  in  the  various 
degrees  of  power  and  capacity,  of  knowledge  and 
love,  amongst  innocent  spirits:  one  spirit  may  be 
formed  capable  of  knowing  much  more  of  his  Maker 
than  another,  and  may  be  favoured  with  richer  dis- 
coveries. Now  if  every  new  divine  discovery  raise 
an  equal  proportion  of  love  in  the  soul,  then  it  is 
possible  that  any  soul  might  be  perfectly  holy  at  its 
first  entrance  into  heaven,  and  yet  may  make  sublime 
advances  in  holiness  hourly. 

Can  we  suppose  that  innocent  Adam,  at  his  very 
formation  in  Paradise,  knew  all  the  wonders  of  di- 
vine wisdom  and  goodness,  that  ever  he  was  de- 
signed to  attain,  had  he  lived  sinless  and  immortal? 
And  then  can  we  believe,  since  his  knowledge  of 
his  Maker’s  goodness  and  wisdom  was  to  receive 
continual  advances,  that  he  should  admire  him  no 
more,  and  love  him  no  better  after  a thousand  years’ 
converse  with  him,  than  he  did  at  his  first  creation? 
Now  the  case  of  the  saints  in  heaven  is  much  the 
same.  The  rule  and  measure  of  their  duty  is  their 
knowledge,  and  the  rule  and  measure  of  their  know- 
ledge is  their  own  capacity,  and  their  means  of  dis- 
covery. They  never  fall  short  of  their  duty,  and 
therefore  they  have  no  sin;  and  thus  their  holiness 
may  be  every  moment  perfect,  and  yet  perhaps 
every  moment  increasing,  as  their  capacities  are  en- 
larged, and  receive  new  discoveries  through  all  the 
ages  of  their  immortality. 

Happy  souls,  whose  aspiring  knowledge*  and  love, 
and  zeal,  move  onward  hourly,  and  get  still  nigher 
to  their  God!  Surely,  while  they  behold  his  face 
in  the  unveiled  beauties  of  his  holiness,  they  shall 
love  him  with  warmer  zeal,  and  be  more  abundantly 
satisfied  with  his  likeness;  Psal.  xvii.  15. 

After  all  that  I have  said  on  this  subject,  some 


512  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

will  insist  on  this  objection,  namely,  Can  there  be  any 
such  thing  as  imperfection  in  heaven?  Is  it  not 
said  to  be  a perfect  state?  Now  if  the  spirits  above 
be  always  growing  in  excellency  and  holiness,  then 
they  are  always  defective  and  eternally  imperfect; 
which  is  very  hard  to  suppose  concerning  the  saints 
in  glory,  and  contrary  to  the  very  expression  and 
letter  of  my  text. 

The  answer  to  this  is  very  easy,  to  all  that  will 
give  their  reason  leave  to  exercise  itself  upon  just 
ideas,  and  to  think  and  argue  beyond  the  chime  of 
words. 

Perfection  (as  I told  you  before)  is  not  to  be  taken 
here  in  an  absolute,  but  in  a comparative  sense; 
nothing  is  absolutely  perfect  but  God;  and  in  com- 
parison of  God,  the  highest  and  most  exalted  of  all 
creatures  is,  and  will  be,  eternally  imperfect  and 
defective;  “The  heavens  are  not  pure  in  his  sight, 
and  he  charges  his  angels  with  folly,”  Job  iv.  18. 
Even  the  man  Christ  Jesus  shall  for  ever  fall  short 
of  the  perfection  of  the  divine  nature  to  which  he 
is  united,  and  in  this  sense  will  be  imperfect  for 
ever. 

But  where  any  creature  has  attained  to  such  ex- 
alted degrees  of  excellency,  as  are  far  superior  to 
what  others  have  attained,  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
scripture  to  call  them  perfect,  and  that  with  a design 
to  do  honour  to  their  character;  so  “Noah  was  a 
just  man,  and  perfect  in  his  generation,”  Gen.  vi. 
9.  Job  also  has  this  honour  done  him.  “He  was 
perfect  and  upright,”  Job  i.  1.  And  the  saints  on 
earth  are  called  perfect  in  many  parts  of  the  word 
of  God,  even  while  they  are  here  on  earth,  and  have 
many  defects  and  imperfections.  So,  though  it  be 
literally  trite,  that  the  saints  in  heaven  are  continu- 
ally imperfect  in  comparison  of  God  and  Christ,  and 
of  what  they  themselves  shall  farther  attain;  yet 
the  scripture,  which  delights  to  do  honour  to  them, 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  513 

chooses  rather  to  call  them  perfect,,  because  of  the 
sublime  degree  of  excellencies  they  possess  above 
their  fellow-saints  on  earth;  and  it  is  not  fit  for  us  to 
degrade  them  in  our  common  language  by  the  dimi- 
nishing and  abasing  names  of  defect  and  imperfec- 
tion, though  their  present  perfection  and  excellency 
admit  of  everlasting  increase. 

If  any  man,  after  he  has  read  this  treatise  thus 
far,  and  has  duly  weighed  all  the  former  arguments, 
can  see  force  enough  in  this  last  objection  to  baffle 
or  destroy  them  all,  or  can  find  terror  enough  in 
the  mere  sound  of  the  word  imperfect  to  forbid  his 
assent;  I desire  he  may  not  be  disturbed  in  the 
possession  of  his  own  sentiments,  till  the  sweet  and 
surprising  sensations  of  ever-growing  felicity  con- 
vince him,  that  heaven  is  a place  of  glorious  im- 
provement. 

This  shall  suffice  for  the  third  general  head  of 
my  discourse,  wherein  I have  shown,  that  the  per- 
fection of  the  spirits  of  the  just  is  such  a perfection 
as  admits  of  a rich  variety  of  employments  and 
pleasures,  according  to  the  various  taste  and  inclina- 
tion of  the  blessed;  it  allows  of  their  different  de- 
grees of  felicity,  according  to  their  different  capaci- 
ties and  preparations;  it  furnishes  each  blessed  spi- 
rit with  a frequent  change  of  pleasure,  and  it  gives 
room  for  perpetual  increase. 

SECTION  V. 

OF  THE  MEANS  OF  ATTAINING  THIS  PERFECTION. 

My  fourth  and  last  inquiry  is  this,  How  do  these 
good  spirits  of  just  men  arrive  at  this  perfection  ? 

I answer,  By  the  death  of  the  body,  and  their 
departure  from  flesh  and  blood. 

You  will  ask,  what  reasons  are  there  why  their 
departure  from  the  body  should  bring  them  into 


514  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

this  perfect  state?  I will  content  myself  to  mention 
these  four: 

I.  Because  at  death  their  state  of  trial  is  ended, 
and  the  time  of  recompense  begins  by  divine  ap- 
pointment; now  all  their  imperfections  must  end 
with  their  state  of  trial. 

This  is  the  account  of  things  in  the  scripture, 
Heb.  ix.  27:  “It  is  appointed  for  men  once  to  die, 
and  after  this  the  judgment.”  At  the  hour  of  death 
those  words  are  spoken  aloud  in  the  most  dreadful 
or  most  delightful  language,  Rev.  xxii.  11:  “He 
that  is  unjust  or  filthy,  let  him  be  so  still;  he  that 
is  righteous  and  holy,  let  him  be  so  still.”  And 
then  upon  the  determination  of  the  state,  the  reward, 
or  recompense  follows,  ver.  12:  “ My  reward  is  with 
me,  to  give  to  every  man  according  as  his  work 
shall  be.” 

Many  inconveniences,  and  imperfections  and 
difficulties,  are  proper  for  a state  of  trial,  and  by 
these  methods  we  are  trained  up  for  glory.  Christ 
himself  was  ignorant  of  many  things  in  the  day  of 
his  trial;  his  knowledge  on  earth  was  imperfect,  and 
his  joys  were  so  too;  for  he  grew  in  wisdom  and 
knowledge;  he  was  a man  of  sorrows,  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief.  “ Though  he  were  a son,  yet 
he  learned  obedience  by  the  things  that  he  suffered,’’ 
and  “ the  Captain  of  our  salvation  was  made  perfect 
through  sufferings;”  Heb.  v.  8,  and  if.  10.  But 
when  the  time  of  probation  and  suffering  ceases, 
then  perfection  is  come,  and  glory  appears. 

Hail,  blessed  spirits  above,  who  have  passed  your 
state  of  trial  well ! You  have  run  the  laborious 
race  under  many  burdens,  and  you  have  received 
the  prize.  You  have  fought  with  mighty  enemies, 
you  have  overcome  a thousand  difficulties,  and  you 
enjoy  the  crown.  No  more  shall  you  complain  of 
the  mixture  of  error  with  your  knowledge,  no  more 
shall  you  groan  under  the  perplexities  of  thought, 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  515 

the  tumults  of  passion,  the  burdens  of  indwelling 
iniquity,  nor  cry  out  because  of  oppressing  enemies 
or  sorrows.  The  hour  of  your  trial  is  finished. 
You  have  been  sincere  and  faithful  in  your  imper- 
fect services,  and  you  are  arrived  at  the  world  of  per- 
fection. 

II.  At  the  hour  of  death  the  spirits  of  the  just 
leave  all  the  natural  and  the  sinful  infirmities  of  flesh 
and  blood  behind  them,  which  are  the  causes  and 
springs  of  a thousand  imperfections. 

The  very  natural  circumstances  and  necessities  of 
the  body,  and  the  inconveniences  that  attend  it  in 
this  frail  state,  do  very  much  embarrass  and  clog 
the  spirit  in  its  pursuit  of  knowledge,  or  holiness,  or 
divine  joy. 

The  flesh  is  a dark  covering  to  the  soul;  it  be- 
clouds our  ideas,  confuses  our  conceptions,  and  pre- 
vents a clear  and  distinct  knowledge  of  a thousand 
objects.  It  is  a dull  dark  tabernacle  for  a spirit’s 
residence.  It  has  windows  indeed  to  let  in  light, 
but  those  very  windows,  like  painted  or  curled  glass, 
too  often  discolour  the  objects,  or  distort  the  shape  of 
them.  These  very  senses  of  ours  frequently  impose 
upon  us  in  the  searches  after  truth,  and  represent 
things,  not  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and  in  their 
own  nature,  but  as  they  are  useful  and  hurtful  to  us; 
and  often  we  pass  a false  judgment  on  the  nature  of 
things  by  their  influence,  and  are  led  into  many  mis- 
takes in  our  inquiries  after  knowledge. 

Our  fancy  or  imagination  raises  up  false  images 
of  things,  and  we  forsake  the  solid  and  real  truth,  to 
follow  the  shapes,  and  colours,  and  appearances  of 
it  painted  upon  fancy. 

From  our  very  infancy,  our  souls  are  imposed 
upon  by  the  animal;  we  draw  in  early  many  false 
judgments,  and  establish  them  daily.  We  are  nursed 
up  in  prejudice  against  a hundred  truths  both  in 
the  philosophical,  the  moral,  and  the  religious  life; 


516  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS, 

and  it  is  the  labour  of  an  age  even  for  a wise  and  good 
man  to  wear  off  a few  of  them,  and  to  judge  with  any 
tolerable  freedom,  evidence  and  certainty. 

A great  part  of  our  life  is  spent  in  sleep,  wherein 
the  soul  is  bound  up  from  exerting  any  regular 
thoughts,  confined  every  night  to  a periodical  deli- 
rium, subjected  to  all  the  fluttering  tyranny  of  the 
animal  spirits,  and  dragged  away  into  all  the  wild 
wanderings  of  dreaming  nature;  and  indeed  the 
thoughts  of  many  of  us  always,  and  of  all  of  us 
sometimes,  even  when  we  are  awake,  are  but  little 
better,  because  we  perpetually  dance  after  the  mo- 
tions of  passions  and  fancy,  and  our  reason  seldom 
judges  without  them.  Alas!  how  imperfect  is  the 
best  of  us  in  knowledge  here  ! 

But  knowledge  is  not  the  only  good  of  which  the 
body  deprives  the  spirit.  The  necessities  of  the 
body,  hunger  and  thirst,  weakness  and  weariness, 
and  drowsy  spirits,  sit  very  heavy  upon  the  soul, 
and  hinder  it  in  the  pursuit  of  holy  and  heavenly 
thoughts,  break  off  many  a divine  meditation,  and 
interrupt  and  spoil  many  a delightful  piece  of  wor- 
ship. In  sickness,  or  in  old  age,  what  long  and 
weighty  troubles,  what  tiresome  infirmities  clog  the 
soul,  and  what  restless  pains  of  nature  overwhelm 
the  spirit,  and  forbid  the  lively  exercises  of  devotion  ! 

And  then  also  the  sinful  appetites  and  perverse 
affections  of  nature  are  very  much  seated  in  flesh 
and  blood:  so  much,  that  the  apostle  in  many  places 
calls  the  principles  of  sin  by  the  general  name  of 
flesh.  Read  the  latter  end  of  the  seventh  chapter  of 
his  epistle  to  the  Romans.  How  does  he  complain 
of  the  flesh  and  members  of  the  body,  which  are 
fatal  instruments  of  sin  and  Satan  ! Read  the  black 
catalogue  of  iniquities,  Gal.  v.  19 — 21,  and  hear 
them  called  the  works  of  the  flesh.  Pride,  and  ma- 
lice, and  envy,  and  lust,  and  covetousness,  and  wrath 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  517 

and  revenge,  are  found  secretly  working  in  flesh  and 
blood.  O how  much  are  the  springs  of  these  sinful 
evils  seated  in  the  very  composition  of  depraved  ani- 
mal nature!  And  how  is  the  poor  labouring  spirit 
of  a saint  dreadfully  betrayed  thereby  into  frequent 
actual  guilt,  even  notwithstanding  all  its  care  and 
watchfulness!  O wretched  men  that  we  are!  who 
shall  deliver  us!  Blessed  be  God,  there  is  a time  of 
release. 

And  as  our  knowledge  and  our  holiness  are  ren- 
dered very  imperfect,  by  reason  of  these  sensible 
and  corrupt  engines  of  flesh  and  blood,  so  are  the 
joys  and  satisfactions  of  the  soul  perpetually  impaired 
and  diminished  hereby.  The  heart  of  the  saint  is 
in  pain  to  feel  sin  working  in  it,  and  the  conscience 
complains  under  the  anguish  of  guilt!  Blessed  be 
God  for  the  balm  that  is  found  in  the  blood  of  Christ, 
to  ease  the  anguish  of  conscience ! 

Besides,  what  spirit  can  enjoy  perfect  peace,  while 
it  is  tied  to  so  many  thousand  nerves,  each  of  which 
may  become  an  instrument  of  intense  pain  and  tor- 
ture ! And  the  body  itself  has  sharp  humours 
enough  in  it  to  corrode  those  nerves,  and  All  the 
indwelling  spirit  with  agonies.  What  millions  of 
seeds  of  painful  disease  lurk  in  animal  nature,  that 
render  this  body  a most  uncomfortable  dwelling! 
And  how  many  thousand  strokes  and  accidents  are 
we  liable  to  from  abroad,  whence  new  pains  and 
sorrows  are  derived  to  the  soul  ! The  wind  and 
the  weather,  the  rain  and  the  hail,  and  the  scorch- 
ing sun,  the  air,  the  water,  and  fire,  and  every  ele- 
ment, may  afflict  the  animal,  and  pain  the  unhappy 
spirit. 

But  O happy  souls,  that  are  free  from  all  the  cum- 
bersome and  mischievous  influences  of  flesh  and 
blood  ! — from  these  instruments  of  iniquity,  and 
springs  of  deadly  guilt  and  torment ! Happy  souls, 
that  are  released  from  sick  and  languishing  bodies, 
45 


518  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

from  feeble  and  burdensome  limbs,  and  all  the  tire- 
some and  painful  disorders  of  dying  nature  ! that 
are  raised  beyond  the  reach  and  injury  of  all  these 
lower  elements,  these  mediums  of  disease  and  pain! 
Rejoice  and  triumph,  ye  prisoners  newly  discharged; 
ye  feel  the  pleasurable  truths  that  we  guess  at,  but 
ye  feel  and  enjoy  them  with  a relish  of  sublime  plea- 
sure beyond  all  our  conjectures.  Rejoice  and  exult 
in  your  new  liberty,  like  a bird  released  from  the  im- 
prisoning cage,  and  sing  with  sweetest  notes  to  the 
praise  of  your  Redeemer.  O worship  and  serve  him 
in  the  full  freedom  of  all  your  active  powers;  attend 
at  his  feet  with  intense  delight,  and  love  him  with 
joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory. 

III.  By  the  death  of  the  body,  and  their  release 
from  it,  these  spirits  of  the  just  are  free  from  all  the 
tempting  powers  and  the  sinful  influences  of  earth 
and  hell. 

This  world  of  sensible  allurements,  and  this  world 
of  sinful  men,  has  a mighty  influence  on  the  spirits 
of  the  saints,  while  they  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood. 
How  often  are  we  deceived  into  practices  of  iniquity 
by  the  enticing  vanities  of  this  life  ! How  often 
tempted  by  evil  companions,  by  flattering  mischiefs 
and  insnaring  circumstances!  And  many  times 
too  the  fear  of  men,  and  the  terror  of  their  threaten- 
ings,  fright  us  to  a neglect  of  duty,  or  hurry  us  into 
the  commission  of  some  active  iniquity.  Sometimes 
the  pleasing  enjoyments  of  life  tie  our  hearts  to  the 
creature  by  the  bands  of  excessive  love ; and  some- 
times the  injuries  and  reproaches  we  receive  from 
them  kindle  our  fiery  passions,  and  rouse  up  our  sin- 
ful wrath  and  revenge. 

This  world  also  is  much  under  the  evil  influences 
of  the  prince  of  darkness;  he  is  called  the  god  of 
this  world ; it  is  greatly  given  up  to  the  ravages 
of  the  roaring  lion,  and  he  worries  the  spirits  of 
the  saints  while  they  dwell  within  his  territories, 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  519 

though  he  is  not  suffered  to  destroy  and  devour 
them. 

But  at  the  moment  of  death  the  happy  spirit  is 
released  from  the  senses,  and  thereby  from  the  im- 
pressions of  all  sensible  things.  All  the  flattering 
vanities  of  this  lower  world  have  no  more  power  to 
entice  the  soul,  than  the  grossest  sensualities  could 
entice  a pure  angel.  Sinful  companions  can  no 
more  invite,  and  threatening  tyrants  have  no  more 
power  to  terrify. 

The  spirit  is  then  got  out  of  the  territories  of 
Satan;  he  is  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  but  his 
dominion  reaches  no  farther.  The  heaven  where 
Christ  is,  never  admits  him.  Michael  with  his 
angels  hath  cast  out  the  old  dragon  and  his  angels, 
and  there  is  no  more  place  found  for  them  there. 
Happy  spirits,  delivered  and  secured  from  the  devil 
and  the  world  at  once,  and  from  all  their  tempting 
and  destructive  influences! 

Now  when  a sanctified  soul  is  thus  released  both 
from  its  union  to  sinful  flesh  and  blood,  and  from  all 
possible  assaults  of  the  powers  of  earth  and  hell,  it, 
may  be  worth  inquiring,  Whether  this  release  be 
not  sufficient  of  itself  to  render  the  work  of  sanctifica- 
tion complete,  and  bring  it  to  a state  of  perfection, 
supposing  still  the  ordinary  concurrence  or  influence 
of  the  sanctifying  Spirit,  flr  whether  there  must 
be  any  immediate,  almighty,  and  present  change 
wrought  in  the  soul  by  a new  and  extraordinary  in- 
fluence of  the  blessed  Spirit  at  the  very  moment  of 
death,  by  which  sanctification  is  at  once  completed. 
Which  of  these  is  true,  I know  not.  I confess  this 
last  has  generally  been  the  opinion  of  our  protestant 
writers;  and  perhaps  it  may  be  the  truth;  but  the 
scripture  is  silent. 

Who  can  tell  therefore  whether  a holy  soul,  that 
has  received  the  divine  seed  of  grace,  (which  is 
called  the  divine  nature)  and  is  regenerated  and 


520 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 


renewed,  and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  not 
all  its  remaining  sins  and  imperfections  owing  to 
its  bonds  of  sinful  flesh  and  blood  ? And  whether 
its  compliance  with  so  many  temptations  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  its  close  attachment  to  corrupt  animal 
nature  and  sensible  things?  And  therefore  whether 
this-  sanctified  nature  would  not  become  completely 
free  from  sin,  when  it  is  freed  from  all  the  influence 
of  a tempting  body  and  a tempting  world?  Whe- 
ther the  divine  bent  and  bias  that  is  given  it  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  at  first  conversion,  and  by  which  it 
maintains  continual  opposition  to  sinful  flesh,  would 
not  make  its  own  way  toward  perfection  without 
new  and  extraordinary  operations?  Whether  this 
would  not  be  sufficient  to  cause  the  soul  for  ever  to 
ascend  naturally  toward  God  in  desire,  and  love,  and 
delight,  when  all  clogs  and  embarrassments  are 
removed?  So  a vessel  filled  with  upper  air,  and 
dragged  down  by  some  heavy  weight  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  labours  and  wrestles  with  the  uneasy  bur- 
den, and  hath  a perpetual  tendency  toward  this 
upper  region;  but  if  the  weight  be  once  taken  off, 
it  immediately  of  itself  rises  through  the  water, 
and  never  ceases  its  motion  till  it  comes  to  the  sur- 
face. 

I confess  this  is  a nicer  speculation,  and  of  doubt- 
ful evidence:  though  ^en  St.  Paul  lays  his  sinful 
compliances  and  captivity  so  much  to  the  charge  of 
his  flesh  and  members,  in  the  seventh  chapter  to  the 
Romans,  and  in  other  places  of  his  writings,  one 
would  be  ready  to  think  St.  Paul  was  of  this  opinion. 
However,  this  we  are  sure  of,  that  a sanctified  soul 
released  from  the  body  shall  be  made  free  from  eve- 
ry sin,  and  its  absence  from  flesh  and  the  world  have 
a large,  if  not  a sufficient  influence  to  effect  this  free- 
dom. 

And  if  we  should  grant  it,  that  a soul  just  dis- 
missed from  this  world  is  not  perfectly  sanctified  by 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  521 

the  mere  influence  of  this  release;  yet  this  perfec- 
tion is  sufficiently  secured  by  its  dismission  from 
flesh;  for  when  absent  from  the  body,  it  is  present 
with  the  Lord;  and  this  leads  me  to  the  next  par- 
ticular, namely, 

IV.  At  death  the  spirits  of  the  just,  released  from 
bodies,  enter  into  another  state,  a different  world, 
where  they  have  a thousand  advantages  for  improve- 
ment in  knowledge,  and  advances  in  holiness  and 
joy,  vastly  beyond  what  any  thing  in  this  world  could 
furnish  them  with. 

They  see  God,  and  are  for  ever  with  him.  They 
behold  him  face  to  face,  as  I have  before  explained 
it,  in  a more  immediate  and  intuitive  manner;  and 
doubtless  such  a sight  fills  the  spirit  with  a clearer 
and  brighter  idea  of  the  nature  and  attributes  of 
God,  than  all  the  former  lessons  it  had  learnt  in 
the  books  of  nature  and  of  scripture  could  ever 
give  it. 

They  see  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  glorified 
Saviour,  in  such  a way  and  manner  as  glorified 
separate  spirits  can  converse  with  spirits  imbodied; 
and  one  such  a view  as  this  will  perhaps  lead  us  into 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with  his  human  nature 
and  his  united  Godhead,  than  many  years  of  con- 
verse with  him  by  all  the  mediums  of  ordinances, 
those  divine  glasses  wherein  we  see  him  darkly,  (as 
the  apostle  speaks)  and  whereby  God  and  Christ 
represent  and  manifest  themselves  to  saints  on 
earth. 

And  as  our  knowledge  shall  receive  immense  and 
surprising  improvements  by  these  new  methods  of 
discovery,  so  I think  it  shall  in  due  proportion  ad- 
vance our  holiness  or  conformity  to  God  the  Father, 
and  his  brightest  image,  Christ  Jesus;  for  we  can- 
not. behold  them  in  such  a manner  without  a glorious 
transformation  into  their  likeness,  as  I have  hinted 
already. 

45* 


522  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

When  a soul  that  has  a new  nature  given  it  by 
sanctifying  grace,  is  placed  in  the  immediate  view 
and  presence  of  God  the  most  holy,  it  will  ever  be 
growing  into  a greater  degree  of  nearness  and  love, 
and  it  will  be  powerfully  changed  more  and  more 
into  the  likeness  of  God  himself,  as  a needle  when 
placed  within  the  reach  of  a loadstone’s  attractive 
power,  ceases  not  its  motion  till  it  be  joined  in  per- 
fect union,  and  itself  acquires  the  virtues  of  that 
wonderful  mineral. 

Nor  is  it  possible  in  heaven  that  we  should  ad- 
vance in  knowledge  and  holiness,  without  an  equal 
improvement  in  felicity  and  joy.  On  earth  indeed 
we  are  told,  “He  that  will  live  godly,  shall  suffer 
persecution;”  and  “He  that  increases  knowledge, 
increases  sorrow;”  2 Tim.  iii.  12,  and  Eccl.  i.  18. 
But  as  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so  are  the 
customs  and  the  blessings  of  that  state  superior  to 
this ; for  there  are  no  present  sorrows  to  be  known, 
nor  any  future  to  be  feared;  and  holiness  has  no 
enemy  there.  All  things  round  the  saint  shall  have 
a tendency  to  promote  his  blessedness. 

The  spirit  of  a good  man  released  from  the  body, 
and  ascending  to  heaven,  is  surrounded  with  thou- 
sands and  ten  thousands  of  blessed  spirits  of  the 
human  and  angelic  order;  when  it  gets  within  the 
confines  of  the  heavenly  country,  it  sweetly  and  in- 
sensibly acquires  the  genius  and  temper  of  the  in- 
habitants; it  breathes,  as  it  were,  a new  air,  and 
lives,  and  thinks,  and  acts  just  as  they  do.  It  shines 
and  burns  with  new  degrees  of  knowledge,  zeal, 
and  love,  and  exults  in  the  transporting  communi- 
cations of  the  same  joy. 

How  vastly  shall  our  understandings  be  improved 
by  the  kind  narratives  and  instructions  of  the  saints 
that  arrived  at  heaven  before  us,  and  by  converse 
with  the  ministering  angels! 

You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  we  shall  have  no  need 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  523 

of  their  teaching  when  we  get  to  heaven,  for  we  shall 
be  near  to  God  himself,  and  receive  all  immediately 
from  him. 

But  has  the  scripture  any  where  excluded  the 
assistance  of  our  fellow-spirits?  God  can  teach  us 
here  on  earth  immediately  by  his  own  Spirit,  without 
the  use  of  books  and  letters,  without  the  help  of  pro- 
phets and  ministers,  men  of  like  passions  with  our- 
selves; and  yet  he  chooses  rather  to  do  it  in  an  in- 
strumental way,  and  makes  his  creatures  in  the  lower 
world  the  means  of  our  instruction  under  the  supe- 
rior influences  of  his  own  Spirit;  and  why  may  he 
not  use  the  same  methods  to  communicate  knowledge 
to  the  spirits  that  newly  arrive  at  that  upper  world? 

There  we  shall  see  the  patriarchs  of  the  old  world 
and  prophets  of  the  old  dispensation,  as  well  as  the 
apostles  and  evangelists  of  Christ  and  his  gospel. 
There  we  shall  be  conversant  with  those  blessed  an- 
gels whom  he  has  used  as  ministers  of  his  vengeance, 
or  his  mercy,  to  persons  and  churches,  families  and 
nations:  and  they  will  not  be  unwilling  to  inform 
us  of  those  great  and  surprising  transactions  of  God 
with  men. 

There  we  shall  find  a multitude  of  other  eminent 
saints  before  and  after  Christ. 

Adam  doubtless  will  take  a peculiar  pleasure  in 
acquainting  all  his  happy  posterity  with  the  special 
form  and  terms  of  the  covenant  of  innocency;  he 
shall  tell  us  the  nature  of  the  trees  of  knowledge  and 
of  life,  and  how  fatally  he  fell,  to  the  ruin  of  his 
unborn  offspring.  Unhappy  father,  deriving  iniquity 
and  death  down  to  his  children!  But  with  what 
immense  satisfaction  and  everlasting  surprise  he  views 
the  second  Adam  his  Son  and  his  Saviour,  and 
stands  in  adoration  and  transport,  while  he  beholds 
millions  of  his  seed  that  he  once  ruined,  now  raised 
to  superior  glories  above  the  promises  of  the  law  of 


524  THE  HAPPINESS  OP  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

works,  by  the  intervening  influence  of  a Mediator! 
Enoch,  the  man  that  walked  with  God,  and  Elijah, 
the  great  reformer,  shall  instruct  us  how  they  were 
translated  to  heaven,  and  passed  into  a blessed  im- 
mortality without  calling  at  the  gates  of  death. 
Noah  will  relate  to  his  sons  among  the  blessed,  what 
was  the  wickedness  of  the  old  world  before  the  flood, 
that  provoked  God  their  Maker  to  drown  them  all; 
he  shall  entertain  us  with  the  wonders  of  the  ark, 
and  the  covenant  of  the  rainbow  in  all  its  glorious 
colours.  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  and 
the  friend  of  God,  shall  talk  over  again  with  us  his 
familiar  converse  with  God  and  angels  in  their  fre- 
quent apparitions  to  him,  and  shall  tell  us  how  much 
the  promised  seed  transcends  all  the  poor  low  ideas  he 
had  of  him  in  his  obscure  age  of  prophecy.  For  we 
cannot  suppose  that  all  intimate  converse  with  our 
father  Abraham  shall  be  forbidden  us,  by  any  of  the 
laws  or  manners  of  that  heavenly  country,  since  hea- 
ven itself  is  described  by  our  sitting  down  as  at  one 
table  with  Abraham,  and  dwelling  in  his  bosom; 
Mat.  viii.  11;  and  Luke  xiv.  15;  and  xvi.  23. 

There  Paul  and  Moses  shall  join  together  to  give 
us  an  account  of  the  Jewish  law,  and  read  wondrous 
and  entertaining  lectures  on  the  types  and  figures  of 
that  economy,  and  still  lead  our  thoughts  to  the 
glorious  Antitype  with  surprising  encomiums  of  the 
blessed  Jesus.  Paul  shall  unfold  to  us  the  dark 
places  of  his  own  writings  better  than  he  himself 
once  understood  them ; and  Moses  shall  become  an 
interpreter  of  his  own  law,  who  knew  so  little  of  the 
mystery  and  beauty  of  it  on  earth  himself. 

There  we  shall  acquaint  ourselves  with  some  of  the 
ancient  fathers  of  the  Christian  church,  and  the  mar- 
tyrs, those  dying  champions  of  the  faith  and  honours 
of  the  Christian  name.  These  will  recount  the  va- 
rious providences  of  God  to  the  church  in  their  se- 
veral ages,  and  show  the  visions  of  St.  John  in  the 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  525 

book  of  the  Revelation,  not  in  the  morning  twilight 
of  prophecy,  but  as  in  the  light  of  noon,  as  a public 
history,  or  as  an  evening  rehearsal  of  the  transactions 
of  the  day.  The  witnesses  themselves  shall  tell  us 
how  they  prophesied  in  sackcloth,  and  were  slain 
by  the  Man  of  Sin ; how  they  rose  from  the  dead  in 
three  days  and  a half,  and  how  the  church  was  at 
last  reformed  from  the  popish  mysteries  of  iniquity 
and  superstition.  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  Calvin  and 
Luther,  and  the  rest  of  the  pious  reformers,  shall 
make  known  to  us  the  labours  and  sufferings  of  their 
age,  and  the  wonders  of  pure  Christianity  rising  as 
it  were  out  of  the  grave,  and  throwing  off  the  chains, 
the  darkness,  and  defilements  of  Antichrist;  and 
those  holy  souls  who  laboured  in  the  reformation  of 
Great  Britain,  while  they  relate  the  transactions  of 
their  day,  shall  perhaps  inquire  and  wonder  why 
their  successors  put  a stop  to  that  blessed  work,  and 
have  made  no  farther  progress  in  a hundred  and 
fifty  years. 

Did  one  of  the  elders  near  the  throne  give  notice 
to  the  apostle  John  concerning  the  martyrs,  Rev. 
vii.  14:  “These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great 
tribulations,  and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb;”  and  shall 
we  not  suppose  that  the  happy  spirits  above  tell  one 
another  their  victories  over  sin  and  temptation,  and 
the  powers  of  this  world  ? Shall  not  the  martyrs, 
who  triumphed  in  their  own  blood,  and  overcame 
Satan  and  Antichrist  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and 
the  word  of  their  testimony,  shall  they  not  make  it 
known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  upper  world,  and 
tell  it  to  the  honour  of  Christ,  their  Captain  and 
their  King,  how  they  fought,  and  died,  and  con- 
quered? Methinks  I hear  these  noble  historians 
rehearsing  their  sacred  tragedy;  how  they  entertain 
a bright  circle  of  listening  angels  and  fellow-spirits 


526  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

with  their  own  glorious  and  dreadful  story,  dreadful 
to  suffer,  and  glorious  to  relate  ! 

Shall  it  be  objected  here,  that  all  the  glorified 
saints  cannot  be  supposed  to  maintain  immediate 
discourse  with  those  blessed  ancients?  Can  those 
ancients  be  imagined  to  repeat  the  same  stories  per- 
petually afresh,  to  entertain  every  stranger  that  is 
newly  arrived  at  heaven  ? 

I answer,  That  since  one  single  spirit  dwelling  in 
flesh  can  communicate  his  thoughts  immediately  to 
five  or  six  thousand  hearers  at  once  by  his  voice,  and 
to  millions  more  successively  by  books  and  writing, 
it  is  very  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  spirits  made 
perfect  and  glorified  have  not  a power  of  communi- 
cating their  thoughts  to  many  more  thousands  by 
immediate  converse;  and  it  is  past  our  reach  to  con- 
ceive what  unknown  methods  may  be  in  use  amongst 
them,  to  transmit  their  ideas  and  narratives  in  a 
much  swifter  succession  than  by  books  and  writings, 
through  all  the  courts  of  heaven,  and  to  inform  all 
the  new  comers,  without  putting  each  happy  spirit 
to  the  everlasting  labour  of  a tiresome  repetition. 

Though  every  saint  in  heaven  should  not  be  ad- 
mitted to  immediate  and  speedy  converse  with  these 
spirits  of  renown  in  past  ages,  yet  doubtless  these 
glorious  minds  have  communicated  their  narratives 
and  the  memoirs  of  their  age,  to  thousands  of  that 
blessed  world  already,  and  from  them  we  may  re- 
ceive a repetition  of  the  same  wonders  with  faith- 
fulness and  exact  truth.  History  and  chronology 
are  no  precarious  and  uncertain  sciences  in  that 
country. 

It  is  very  probable  indeed,  that  we  shall  have 
more  intimate  nearness  to,  and  more  familiar  com- 
munion with  those  spirits  that  were  of  the  same  age 
and  place  with  ourselves,  and  of  the  same  church  or 
family;  for  we  can  more  delightfully  expatiate  in 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  527 

our  converse  with  them  about  the  same  providences 
and  the  same  methods  of  grace,  and  agreeably  enter- 
tain and  improve  each  other  with  notices  of  the  af- 
fairs of  the  upper  and  lower  worlds. 

Nor  must  we  suppose  such  sort  of  historical  con- 
verse among  the  blessed  spirits  is  merely  designed  to 
fill  the  mind  with  new  and  strange  ideas.  This 
pleasure,  considered  by  itself,  is  not  sacred  enough 
for  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  There  is  not 
a narrative  in  the  world,  but  shall  disclose  some  won- 
drous instances  of  divine  wisdom  or  mercy,  power 
or  faithfulness,  patience  and  forgiveness,  or  wrath 
and  justice.  The  speaker  shall  feel  the  workings  of 
all  proper  reverence,  zeal,  and  love;  and  every  hearer 
shall  be  impressed  with  correspondent  affections,  and 
join  in  adoration  and  holy  wonder. 

And  while  we  speak  of  the  means  and  advantages 
that  glorified  spirits  enjoy  for  their  improvement  in 
all  the  parts  of  their  felicity,  surely  we  may  expect 
the  greatest  and  the  best  assistances,  even  those  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  render  all  these  means  more  effec- 
tual. Is  he  not  promised  “to  abide  with  us,  to  be 
in  us,  and  dwell  with  us  for  ever?”  John  xiv.  16, 
17.  Is  he  not  represented  as  dwelling  in  the  spirits 
of  the  just  made  perfect,  when  it  is  said,  “The 
Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  them  shall  raise  their  mortal 
bodies  from  the  dead?,?  Rom.  viii.  11.  May  we 
not  then  reasonably  infer,  that  that  glorious  Spirit, 
who  has  been  our  Enlightener,  our  Comforter,  and 
our  Sanctifier  on  earth,  will  be  our  perpetual  En- 
lightener, our  eternal  Sanctifier,  and  our  everlasting 
Comforter?  He  that  has  so  wonderfully  begun  the 
divine  work  in  us,  and  laid  foundations  of  joy  in 
knowledge  and  holiness,  will  he  not  finish  and  per- 
fect his  own  work,  and  add  the  top-stone  to  crown 
the  heavenly  building? 

O blessed  state  of  spirits  discharged  from  the 
prison  of  flesh  and  this  world!  this  wicked  world, 


528  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

where  Satan,  the  evil  spirit,  has  so  wide  a range,  and 
so  poisonous  an  influence,  and  where  sinful  men 
swarm  on  every  side,  and  bear  the  largest  sway  ! 
Of  what  divine  advantages  are  you  possessed  for 
the  improvement  of  all  your  sacred  excellencies  and 
joys!  When  we  can  raise  our  thoughts  a little,  and 
survey  your  privileges,  we  feel  somewhat  of  an  in- 
ward wish  to  dwell  among  you,  and  send  a breathing 
meditation,  or  a glance  of  warm  desire  towards  your 
world  and  your  society.  We  poor  prisoner-spirits, 
when  we  hear  such  tidings  from  the  country  at  which 
you  are  arrived,  we  stretch  our  wings  a little,  and 
are  ready  to  wish  for  the  flight.  But  God  our  Sove-" 
reign  must  appoint  the  hour;  he  sees  that  we  are  not 
yet  refined  enough.  Keep  our  souls,  O Father,  in 
this  erect  posture,  looking,  reaching,  and  longing  for 
the  celestial  world,  till  thou  hast  completely  pre- 
pared us  for  the  promised  glory,  and  then  give  us 
the  joyful  word  of  dismission. 

Thus  I have  endeavoured  to  make  it  appear  on 
what  accounts  a dismission  from  the  body  is  both 
the  season  when,  and  the  means  by  which  the  spirits 
of  the  just  arrive  at  this  perfection.  Their  state  of 
trial  is  ended  at  death,  and  therefore  all  inconveni- 
ences and  imperfections  must  cease  by  divine  ap- 
pointment; by  death  the  soul  is  released  from  all 
the  troublesome  and  tempting  influences  of  flesh  and 
blood;  it  is  delivered  from  this  sinful  world,  it  is 
got  beyond  the  reach  of  Satan  the  tempter  and  the 
tormentor;  and  it  is  surrounded  with  a thousand 
advantages  for  improvement  in  knowledge,  holiness, 
and  joy. 

SECTION  VI. 

REMARKS  ON  THE  FOREGOING  DISCOURSE. 

Remark  I.  Are  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  per- 
fect at  the  death  of  the  body,  then  we  may  be 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  529 

assured  that  they  neither  die  nor  sleep;  for  sleep  and 
death  are  both  inconsistent  with  this  state  of  perfec- 
tion which  I have  described. 

The  dead  saints  are  not  lost  nor  extinct.  They 
are  not  perished  out  of  God’s  world,  though  they  are 
gone  from  ours.  They  are  no  more  in  the  world 
that  is  enlightened  by  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the 
glimmering  stars;  but  they  themselves  shine  glori- 
ously, like  stars  of  different  magnitude,  in  the  world 
where  there  is  no  sun,  nor  is  there  any  need  of  the 
moon  to  shine  in  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  enlightens 
it  and  the  Lamb  is  the  everlasting  light  thereof; 
Rev.  xxi.  23.  They  are  lost  from  earth,  but  they 
are  found  in  heaven.  They  are  dead  to  us  at  pre- 
sent, but  they  are  alive  to  God  their  Father,  and  to 
Jesus  their  Saviour;  they  are  alive  to  the  holy  an- 
gels, and  to  all  their  fellow-saints  in  that  upper 
world. 

If  there  had  been  any  such  thing  as  a soul  sleeping 
or  dying,  our  Saviour  would  never  have  argued  thus 
with  the  Sadducees,  Luke  xx.  37,  38,  nor  have  " 
proved  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  from  the 
doctrine  of  the  separate  state  of  souls:  it  is  as  if  he 
had  said,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  dead  long 
ago,  but  God  is  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  still.  Now  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  the  God  of  the  living;  therefore  the  souls  of 
those  patriarchs  are  yet  alive,  for  they  all  live  to  God 
in  the  separate  state,  and  they  shall  appear  in  their 
complete  human  nature,  soul  and  body,  at  the  re- 
surrection. This  is  the  language  and  the  force  of 
our  Saviour’s  argument,  and  therefore  I must  believe 
the  soul  of  Abraham  is  alive  now. 

When  Jesus  promises  the  penitent  thief  upon  the 
cross,  Luke  xxiii.  43,  “ This  day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise,”  can  we  persuade  ourselves  that  he 
intended  no  more  than  that  the  thief  should  be  with 
him  in  the  grave,  or  in  a state  of  indolence  and  in- 
46 


530  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

sensibility  ? Does  he  not  assure  him  in  these  words, 
that  there  is  a state  of  happiness  for  spirits  dismissed 
from  the  body,  whither  the  soul  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
was  going,  and  where  the  dying  penitent  should  find 
him. 

So,  when  the  infidel  Jews  stoned  Stephen  the  first 
martyr,  Acts  vii.  59,  while  he  expressed  his  faith 
and  hope  in  these  words,  “ Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit,”  was  this  spirit  of  his  to  be  laid  asleep  till 
the  resurrection  ? Can  we  suppose  the  dying  saint 
would  have  made  such  a request  upon  so  lethargic  a 
principle,  and  in  the  view  of  such  a stupid  state? 
No,  surely;  for  he  expected,  and  desired,  and  prayed 
to  be  received  to  dwell  where  Christ  is,  and  to  be- 
hold that  glory  which  he  had  a glimpse  of  in  the 
agonies  of  death. 

Would  the  apostle  Paul  have  been  so  willing  to 
be  absent  from  the  body,  where  he  did  much  service 
for  his  Saviour,  if  he  had  not  a joyful  view  of  being 
present  with  the  Lord?  as  he  expresses  it,  2 Cor. 
v.  8.  What  doth  he  mean  by  this  blessed  language 
of  presence  with  the  Lord,  if  his  soul  was  to  lie 
asleep  in  a senseless  and  inactive  state  till  the  second 
coming  of  Jesus  ? Or  would  he  have  told  the 
Philippians,  ch.  i.  ver.  23,  that  he  had  “a  desire  to 
depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better,”  if 
he  had  hoped  for  no  advantage  for  his  spirit  by  it, 
but  a mere  stupid  indolence  and  rest  in  the  silent 
grave  ? 

Besides,  we  are  told  of  rebellious  spirits  that  are 
in  prison,  1 Pet.  iii.  19,  20,  and  of  “ Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire,”  Jude 
7.  Whether  this  be  material  fire,  or  merely  a meta- 
phor to  express  torment,  is. not  necessary  to  inquire 
here;  but  surely  we  can  never  imagine  that  the 
justice  of  God  has  provided  the  prison  of  hell  and 
fiery  torments  for  the  souls  of  the  wicked,  separate 
from  bodies,  and  yet  that  the  mercy  and  goodness 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  531 

of  God  has  provided  no  heaven  of  happiness  for  the 
spirits  of  those  that  have  loved,  honoured,  and  obeyed 
him  all  the  days  they  dwelt  in  the  flesh.  There  is, 
then,  there  is  certainly,  a state  of  happiness  prepared 
for  holy  souls  immediately  after  death. 

When  we  think  of  our  pious  friends  departed,  our 
foolish  imagination  is  too  ready  to  indulge  and  im- 
prove our  sorrow.  We  sit  solitary  in  the  parlour 
and  the  chamber:  we  miss  them  there,  and  we  cry, 
“They  are  lost/’  We  retire  melancholy  to  the 
closet,  and  bewail  a lost  father,  or  lost  mother,  or 
perhaps  a nearer  and  dearer  relative.  We  miss  them 
in  our  daily  conversation,  we  miss  them  in  all  their 
friendly  offices,  and  their  endearing  sensible  charac- 
ters, and  we  are  ready  to  say  again,  “Alas!  they 
are  lost.”  This  is  the  language  of  flesh  and  blood, 
of  sense  and  fancy.  Come,  let  our  faith  teach  us  to 
think  and  speak  of  them  under  a more  cheerful  and 
more  just  representation:  they  are  not  utterly  lost, 
for  they  are  present  with  Christ  and  with  God.  They 
are  departed  our  world,  where  all  things  are  imper- 
fect, to  those  upper  regions  where  light  and  perfec- 
tion dwell.  They  have  left  their  offices  and  stations 
here  among  us,  but  they  are  employed  in  a far  more 
divine  manner,  and  have  new  stations  and  nobler 
offices  on  high.  Their  places  on  earth  indeed  know 
them  no  more,  but  their  places  in  heaven  know  them 
well,  even  those  glorious  mansions  that  were  pre- 
pared for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
Their  place  is  empty  in  the  earthly  sanctuary,  and 
in  the  days  of  solemn  assembly,  but  they  appear  above 
in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  as  fair  pillars  and  orna- 
ments in  the  temple  of  God  on  high,  and  shall  for  ever 
dwell  with  him  there. 

It  is  a very  natural  inquiry  now,  But  where  are 
these  places  of  blessed  spirits?  What  part  of  the 
creation  is  it,  in  which  they  have  their  residence? 
Is  it  above  or  below  the  sun?  Is  their  habitation 


532  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

in  any  of  the  planetary  or  starry  worlds?  Or  are 
they  fled  beyond  them  all?  Where  is  the  proper 
place  of  their  presence? 

Let  me  propose  a brief  answer  to  these  curious 
questions  in  a few  propositions. 

1.  The  chief  properties  of  spirits  are  knowledge 
and  activity;  and  they  are  said  to  be  present  there, 
where  they  have  an  immediate  perception  of  any 
thing,  and  where  they  lay  out  their  immediate  ac- 
tivity or  influence.  So  our  souls  are  said  to  be 
present  with  our  bodies,  because  they  have  immedi- 
ate consciousness  or  knowledge  of  what  relates  to  the 
body,  and  they  move  it,  and  act  upon  it,  or  influence 
it,  in  an  immediate  manner. 

2.  God,  the  infinite  Spirit,  has  an  immediate  and 
universal  presence;  that  is,  he  is  immediately  con- 
scious of,  and  acquainted  with  every  thing  that 
passes  in  all  the  known  and  unknown  parts  of  the 
creation,  and  by  his  preserving  and  governing  power 
manages  all  things.  Wheresoever  he  displays  his 
glory  to  separate  spirits,  that  is  heaven;  and  where 
he  exerts  his  vengeance,  that  is  hell. 

3.  Finite  spirits  have  not  such  an  immediate  and 
universal  presence.  Their  knowledge  and  their 
activity  are  confined  to  certain  parts  of  the  creation  ; 
and  wheresoever  they  are,  if  they  are  under  the  im- 
mediate influences  of  divine  glory,  they  are  in  hea- 
ven; if  of  his  vengeance,  they  are  in  hell. 

4.  They  are  usually  represented  as  having  some 
relation  to  a particular  place  or  places;  because 
while  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood,  we  know  not  how 
to  concei  ve  of  their  presence  so  well  any  other  way ; 
and  therefore  they  may  be  described  in  scripture  or 
in  common  discourse,  as  being  in  heaven  and  above 
the  heavens,  and  in  the  third  heaven,  and  as  coming 
down  to  earth, &c.,  according  as  they  are  supposed  to 
put  forth  any  actions  there,  or  to  have  an  immediate 
cognizance  of  things  that  are  done  in  those  places; 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  533 

for  the  chief  notion  we  have  of  the  presence  of  spirits 
is  their  immediate  consciousness,  and  their  immedi- 
ate agency. 

5.  But  if  they  are  provided  with  any  subtile  ethe- 
real bodies  (which  are  called  vehicles)  in  and  by 
which  they  act  as  soon  as  they  leave  flesh  and  blood, 
then  they  may  properly  be  said  to  reside  in  those 
places  where  their  vehicles  are,  even  as  our  souls  at 
present  are  said  to  be  in  a room,  or  a closet,  or  a 
field,  because  our  bodies  are  there,  in  and  by  which 
they  act. 

6.  There  must  be  some  place  where  the  glorified 
body  of  Christ  is,  and  the  souls  of  departed  saints 
are,  in  some  sense,  with  him.  There  Enoch  and 
Elijah  are  in  their  immortal  bodies,  and  other  saints 
who  rose  at  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  They  may 
be  (for  aught  we  know)  in  or  among  some  of  the 
planets,  or  amongst  the  stars;  though  the  distance 
of  the  stars  is  so  prodigious  and  amazing,  according 
to  the  exactest  calculations  of  the  new  philosophy, 
that  if  the  motion  of  a spirit  or  glorified  body  were 
no  swifter  than  that  of  a cannon-bullet,  they  would 
not  get  so  far  as  the  stars  in  a thousand  ages;  nor 
would  the  journey  of  so  swift  a traveller  to  any  of  the 
planets  (except  the  moon)  cost  less  than  the  labour 
of  several  years. 

7.  These  things  are  so  puzzling  to  our  reason,  so 
confound  our  imagination,  and  so  far  transcend  the 
reach  of  our  present  faculties  to  inquire  and  deter- 
mine, that  it  is  sufficient  for  us  to  know  and  believe, 
that  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  have  an  ex- 
istence under  the  blissful  influences  of  the  grace  and 
glory  of  God.  And  though  we  freely  speak  of  them, 
and  the  scripture  leads  us  to  conceive  of  them,  as 
dwelling  in  a world  of  light,  and  in  some  special 
place  of  magnificence,  and  apartments  of  glory,  or 
as  moving  from  one  place  to  another;  yet  perhaps  it 
is  to  be  understood  chiefly  in  condescension  to  the 

46* 


534  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

weakness  of  our  present  capacities,  or  in  relation 
to  vehicles  to  which  they  may  be  united.  But  our 
ignorance  in  these  matters  shall  be  no  hinderance  to 
our  arrival  at  heaven,  if  we  tread  the  paths  of  faith 
and  holiness,  though  we  know  not  in  what  part  of 
the  creation  it  lies. 

I proceed  to  the  second  remark. 

Remark  2.  If  all  the  spirits  of  the  just  that  de- 
part from  this  world  are  made  perfect,  then  there  is 
much  better  company  above  than  there  is  below.  The 
society  in  heaven  is  much  .more  agreeable  than  the 
best  society  on  earth. 

Here  we  meet  with  a multitude  of  sinners;  they 
are  ready  to  mingle  in  all  the  affairs  of  life,  and  some- 
times hypocrites  join  with  us  in  the  sacred  ordi- 
nances of  the  sanctuary.  The  apostle  himself  has 
told  us,  that  in  the  civil  concerns  of  this  life  we  can- 
not avoid  them;  for  if  we  will  keep  no  company  with 
sinners,  we  must  have  nothing  to  do  in  this  world, 
we  must  needs  go  out  of  it,  1 Cor.  v.  10.  But  in  the 
world  above  there  are  none  but  saints,  no  inhabitant 
there  but  what  is  holy.  There  are  no  persons  there 
that  will  tempt  or  defile  us,  or  lead  us  astray  from  the 
paths  of  purity  or  peace.  Holiness  to  the  Lord  is  in- 
scribed on  every  soul  there;  nor  is  there  one  Canaan- 
ite  in  that  upper  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts;  Zech. 
xiv.  21. 

But  this  is  not  all.  For  there  are  many  of  the 
saints  themselves  here  on  earth  that  make  but  very 
indifferent  companions.  Some  of  them  are  shame- 
fully ignorant,  imprudent,  and  foolish ; and  wre 
have  much  ado  to  bear  wdth  their  folly.  Some  of 
them  are  morose  and  contentious,  captious  and 
peevish,  envious  and  censorious,  and  ready  to  take 
offence  on  the  slightest  occasions;  a look  or  a smile 
placed  wrong  shall  disoblige  them,  a mistaken  word 
shall  affront  them  for  a month,  and  it  is  very  hard 
wmrk  to  humour  and  please  them;  or  we  ourselves 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  535 


perhaps  are  foolish  and  imprudent,  we  are  peevish 
and  resentful,  and  our  fellow-Christians  have  as 
much  to  do  to  bear  with  us  or  to  please  us.  There 
are  some  persons,  concerning  whom  we  have  reason 
to  hope,  that  their  hearts  in  the  main  are  right  with 
God,  but  either  by  the  iniquity  of  their  animal  na- 
tures or  the  power  of  their  temptations,  they  look  so 
like  the  men  of  this  world,  that  it  is  hard  to  distin- 
guish them,  and  their  society  is  dangerous,  or  at  least 
very  unprofitable  and  undesirable.  Some  of  us  fall 
into  gross  mistakes,  and  lead  our  friends  into  error, 
and  hand  in  hand  we  forsake  the  truth.  Some  of  us 
are  melancholy,  and  sit  in  darkness;  then  we  spread 
a gloom  and  heaviness  over  all  our  conversation,  and 
banish  all  the  joys  of  earth  and  heaven;  or  at  best 
(it  may  be)  and  in  our  sprightly  days,  we  fill  up  the 
visiting  hour  with  trifles  and  impertinencies,  and 
there  is  little  of  heavenly  and  divine  conversation 
among  us.  Poor  low  grovelling  subjects  furnish  our 
tongues,  and  entertain  our  ears,  because  we  are  so 
very  imperfect  here  on  earth  in  knowledge,  in  holi- 
ness or  in  divine  joy.. 

But  what  a glorious  difference  is  there  in  the 
society  above,  where  we  may  be  secure  from  all  mis- 
take and  falsehood,  from  all  impertinence  and  folly 
in  the  longest  discourse  or  conference!  for  every 
spirit  there  is  so  perfect  in  knowledge,  as  to  be  free 
from  error,  and  has  so  divine  a turn  of  mind,  that 
nothing  relishes  but  what  is  holy  and  heavenly.  No 
quarrels,  no  complaints  are  found  there  to  imbitter 
our  converse,  to  diminish  the  pleasure  of  society,  or 
to  draw  the  heart  away  from  God. 

If  we  would  know  what  the  society  of  heaven  is, 
let  us  renew  the  memory  of  the  wisest  and  holiest, 
the  kindest  and  the  best  companions  that  we  were 
ever  acquainted  with  here  on  earth ; let  us  recollect 
the  most  pleasing  hours  that  we  have  enjoyed  in 
their  society ; let  us  divest  them  of  all  their  mistakes 


536  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

and  weaknesses,  of  all  their  sins  and  imperfections; 
and  then  by  faith  and  hope  let  us  divest  ourselves  of 
all  our  own  guilt  and  follies  too;  let  us  fancy  our- 
selves engaged  with  them  in  delightful  discourse  on 
the  most  divine  and  most  affecting  subjects,  and  our 
hearts  mutually  raising  each  other  near  to  God,  and 
communicating  mutual  joys;  this  is  the  state  of  the 
blessed,  this  the  conversation  of  heaven,  this  and 
more  than  this  shall  be  our  entertainment  when  we 
arrive  at  those  happy  regions. 

This  thought  would  very  naturally  lead  me  to  the 
mention  of  our  honoured  and  departed  friend,  but  I 
withhold  myself  a little,  and  must  detain  your  expec- 
tation till  I have  made  a remark  or  two  more. 

Remark  3.  Are  the  spirits  of  the  just,  who  are 
departed  from  earth,  made  perfect  in  heaven;  then 
they  are  not  the  proper  subjects  for  our  perpetual 
sorrows  and  endless  complaints.  Let  us  moderate 
our  grief  therefore,  for  that  very  providence  that  has 
fixed  them  in  perfect  holiness  and  joy. 

We  lament  their  absence,  and  our  loss  indeed  is 
great;  but  the  spirit  of  Christian  friendship  should 
teach  us  to  rejoice  in  their  exaltation.  Is  it  no  plea- 
sure to  think  of  them  as  released  from  all  the  bonds 
of  infirm  nature,  from  the  pains  of  mortality,  and 
the  disquietudes  of  a sinful  world  ? Is  it  not  better 
to  lift  our  eyes  upward,  and  view  a parent  or  a be- 
loved friend  adorned  with  perfect  grace  and  complete 
in  glory,  exulting  in  the  fulness  of  joy  near  the  throne 
of  God,  than  to  behold  him  labouring  under  the 
tiresome  disorders  of  old  age,  groaning  under  the 
anguish  and  torment  of  acute  distempers,  and 
striving  with  the  troublesome  attendants  of  this  sin- 
ful and  painful  state?  Do  we  profess  fondness  and 
affection  for  those  that  are  gone,  and  shall  we  not 
please  ourselves  a little  in  their  happiness,  or  at  least 
abate  our  mourning?  Does  not  St.  Paul  tell  the 
Corinthians,  “This  is  what  we  wish,  even  your 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  537 

perfection?”  2 Cor.  xiii.  9,  and  should  not  saints,  in 
the  lower  world,  take  some  satisfaction,  when  a fel- 
low-saint is  arrived  at  the  sum  of  his  own  wishes, 
even  perfect  holiness  and  joy  on  high? 

But  I correct  myself  here;  nature  must  have  its 
way,  and  be  indulged  a little;  let  it  express  its  sen- 
sible pain  at  the  loss  of  such  endearments.  A long 
separation  from  those  who  are  so  near  akin  to  us 
in  flesh  and  blood,  will  touch  the  heart  in  a painful 
place,  and  awaken  the  tenderest  springs  of  sorrow’. 
The  sluices  must  be  allowed  to  be  held  open  a little; 
nature  seems  to  demand  it  as  a debt  to  love,  and 
grace  does  not  utterly  forbid  it.  When  Lazarus 
died,  Jesus  groaned  and  wept,  John  xi.  33,  35. 

Yet  let  not  sorrow  triumph  and  reign,  and,  like 
a flood,  break  over  all  its  bounds;  rather  give  the 
stream  of  it  a little  diversion  into  a better  channel. 
Come,  let  us  take  the  advice  which  our  blessed 
Saviour  gives  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  who 
attended  him  to  his  cross  with  tears;  Luke  xxiii.  28. 
Weep  not  for  me,  but  if  ye  must  weep,  do  it  for 
yourselves  and  your  children;  because  you  are  still 
left  in  the  valley  of  sin  and  sorrow,  while  the  saints 
departed  are  arrived  at  the  land  of  peace,  and  their 
feet  stand  upon  the  mountains  of  paradise. 

Could  the  voice  of  those  blessed  spirits  made  per- 
fect reach  our  ears,  we  should  hear  them  speak  in 
the  language  of  their  Lord:  “Weep  not  for  us,  but 
for  yourselves:  you  are  still  encompassed  with 
temptations  and  difficulties,  we  have  surmounted 
them  all:  you  are  wrrestling  with  many  errors,  and 
entangled  in  dark  and  noisy  controversies;  we  are 
perfect  in  knowledge,  and  see  divine  mysteries  in  a 
divine  light:  you  are  labouring  in  the  race;  we  are 
crowned,  and  have  received  the  prize;  you  are 
still  striving  in  the  field  of  battle,  and  we  well  re- 
member the  toilsome  and  painful  conflict.  We  pity 


538  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

you,  and  call  you  rather  to  weep  for  yourselves  than 
for  us;  we  have  finished  all  the  war  through  divine 
grace,  and  are  secure  in  the  city  of  triumph:  you 
are  yet  travelling  through  the  valley  of  tears;  we 
are  refreshing  ourselves  in  the  gardens  of  pleasure, 
and  on  hills  of  everlasting  gladness.  Hold  on  with 
courage,  and  faith,  and  patience;  there  are  mansions 
of  joy  prepared  for  you  also,  and  we  wait  your  hap- 
py arrival. 

Remark  4.  Are  the  spirits  of  just  men  in  heaven 
made  perfect,  in  the  same  excellencies  and  privileges 
which  they  possessed  on  earth?  then  if  our  curiosity, 
or  our  love  has  a mind  to  know  what  are  the  circum- 
stances of  our  pious  friends  departed,  or  how  they 
are  employed  above,  let  us  review  what  they  were 
here  below,  and  how  they  employed  themselves 
when  they  were  with  us;  for,  as  I told  you,  in  this 
life  we  are  trained  up  for  the  life  of  glory;  we  shall 
then  be  advanced  to  a glorious  and  transcendent 
degree  of  the  same  graces;  and  there  will  be  some- 
thing in  the  future  state  of  rewards  answerable  and 
correspondent  to  the  present  state  of  labour  and 
trial. 

This  thought  necessarily  calls  our  meditations 
backward  a little,  to  take  a short  survey  of  some  pe- 
culiar characters  of  our  excellent  friend  departed,  that 
we  may  learn  to  rejoice  in  the  present  perfection  of 
his  graces  and  glories. 

SECTION  VII. 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  DECEASED. 

When  I name  Sir  John  Hartopp,  all  that  knew 
him  will  agree  that  I name  a gentleman,  a scholar, 
and  a Christian;  and  neither  of  these  characters,  in 
the  best  and  most  valuable  sense  of  them,  could  for- 
sake him  at  his  entrance  into  heaven. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  539 

He  shone  with  eminence  among  the  persons  of 
birth  and  title*  on  earth;  while  his  obliging  deport- 
ment and  his  affable  temper  rendered  him  easy  of 
access  to  all  his  inferiors,  and  made  him  the  delight 
of  all  his  friends.  Though  he  knew  what  was  due 
to  his  quality  in  this  world,  yet  he  affected  none  of 
the  grandeurs  of  life,  but  daily  practised  condescen- 
sion and  love,  and  secured  the  respect  of  all,  without 
assuming  a superior  air. 

Then  surely  he  carried  this  temper  with  him  to 
the  upper  world,  where  gentleness  and  goodness 
reign  in  the  highest  perfection;  and  doubtless  he 
practises  now  all  the  same  graces  of  conversation 
among  the  blessed  spirits  there,  but  in  afar  superior 
manner,  according  to  the  unknown  laws  and  customs 
of  that  region  of  light  and  love. 

He  had  a taste  for  universal  learning;  and  inge- 
nious arts  were  his  delight  from  his  youth.  He  pur- 
sued knowledge  in  various  forms,  and  was  acquainted 
with  many  parts  of  human  science.  Mathematical 
speculations  and  practices,  were  a favourite  study 
with  him  in  his  younger  years;  and  even  to  his  old 
age,  he  maintained  his  acquaintance  with  the  mo- 
tions of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  light  and  shade  by 
which  time  is  measured. 

And  may  we  not  suppose  that  there  are  entertain- 
ments amongst  the  works  of  God  on  high  to  feast 
the  spirits  of  such  a genius  ? May  they  not  in  that 
upper  region  look  down  and  survey  the  various  con- 
trivances of  divine  wisdom,  which  created  all  things 
in  these  lower  worlds  in  number,  weight,  and 
measure  ? May  not  our  exalted  friend  give  glory 
there  to  his  Maker  in  the  contemplation  of  the  same 
heavenly  bodies,  though  he  dwells  in  the  region 

* His  grandfather,  Sir  Edward  Hartopp,  was  created  a baronet 
by  king  James  I.,  1619,  which  was  but  a few  years  after  the  first 
institution  of  that  order. 


540  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

where  night  and  shadows  are  never  known,  and 
above  the  need  or  use  of  sunbeams? 

But  the  book  of  God  was  his  chief  study,  and  his 
most  divine  delight.  His  Bible  lay  before  him  night 
and  day;  and  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
writers  that  explained  it  best.  He  was  desirous  of 
seeing  what  the  Spirit  of  God  said  to  men  in  the 
original  languages.  For  this  end,  he  commenced 
some  acquaintance  with  Hebrew  when  he  was  more 
than  fifty  years  old  ; and  that  he  might  be  capable 
of  judging  of  the  true  sense  of  any  text  in  the  New 
Testament,  he  kept  his  youthful  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  language,  in  some  measure,  even  to  the  period 
of  his  life. 

But  earthly  languages  are  of  little  use  in  heaven. 
There  are  too  many  defects  and  ambiguities  in  them 
to  express  the  bright,  the  complete,  and  the  distinct 
ideas  of  separate  spirits.  We  may  allow  our  learned 
friend,  therefore,  to  be  divested  of  these  when  he 
dropped  mortality.  Now  he  is  out  of  the  body,  and 
caught  up  to  dwell  in  Paradise,  where  St.  Paul 
made  heretofore  a short  visit,  2 Cor.  xii.  2,  4:  he 
hears  and  speaks  those  unspeakable  words,  it  is  not 
possible  for  a mortal  tongue  to  utter.  The  things 
of  heaven  are  not  to  be  expressed  in  any  foreign 
language. 

Among  the  various  themes  of  Christian  contem- 
plation, he  took  peculiar  pleasure  in  the  doctrines  of 
grace,  in  the  display  of  the  glories  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  God  in  our  nature,  and  the  wondrous  work 
of  redemption  by  his  cross.  He  adored  him  as  his 
Lord  and  his  God;  and  while  he  trusted  in  his  righ- 
teousness as  the  great  Mediator,  and  beheld  him  as 
his  crucified  Saviour,  he  was  ever  zealous  to  maintain 
the  honours  due  to  his  divine  nature  and  majesty. 

And  we  may  be  sure  this  is  a study  in  which  he 
is  still  engaged,  and  he  spends  the  days  of  his 
eternity  in  the  pleasurable  contemplations  t>f  his 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  541 

glorified  Redeemer,  and  the  sacred  mysteries  of  his 
cross,  and  his  throne,  which  things  the  angels  desire 
to  pry  into. 

His  practice  in  life  was  agreeable  to  his  Christian 
principles;  for  he  knew  that  the  grace  of  God,  that 
brings  salvation  to  men,  teaches  them  to  deny  all  un- 
godliness and  to  live  sober,  righteous,  and  religious 
lives,  that  in  all  things  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  their  Saviour. 

Now  that  this  part  of  his  character  is  continued 
and  exalted  in  the  region  of  the  blessed  spirits,  is  too 
evident  to  need  any  amplification  or  proof;  for  holi- 
ness in  every  part  of  it  is  made  perfect  there,  and  all 
under  the  sweet  constraint  of  love. 

His  conversation  was  pious  and  learned,  ingenious 
and  instructive;  he  was  inquisitive  into  the  affairs  of 
the  learned  world,  the  progress  of  arts  and  sciences, 
the  concerns  of  the  nation,  and  the  interest  of  the 
church  of  Christ;  and  upon  all.  occasions  was  as 
ready  to  communicate  as  he  was  to  inquire.  What 
he  knew  of  the  things  of  God  or  man,  he  resolved  not 
to  know  them  only  for  himself,  but  for  the  benefit  of 
all  that  had  the  honour  of  his  acquaintance.  There 
are  many  of  his  friends  that  will  join  with  me  to  con- 
fess, how  often  we  have  departed  from  his  company 
refreshed  and  advanced  in  some  useful  knowledge. 
And  I reckon  it  among  the  blessings  of  heaven,  when 
I review  those  five  years  of  pleasure  and  improve- 
ment, which  I spent  in  his  family  in  my  younger 
part  of  life;  and  I found  much  instruction  myself, 
where  I was  to  be  called  an  instructor. 

Nor  can  I think  such  inquiries  and  such  commu- 
nications as  are  suitable  to  the  affairs  of  the  upper 
world,  are  unpractised  among  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect  there;  for  man  is  a sociable  creatbre, 
and  enjoys  communion  with  his  fellow-saints  there, 
as  well  as  with  his  Maker  and  his  Saviour.  Nor  can 
47  • 


542  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

the  spirit  of  our  honoured  and  departed  friend  be  a 
stranger  to  the  pleasures  of  society  amongst  his  fel- 
low-spirits in  those  blessed  mansions. 

His  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  his  country,  and  of  the 
church  of  Christ  in  it,  carried  him  out  to  the  most 
expensive  and  toilsome  services  in  his  younger  and 
his  middle  age.  He  employed  his  time,  his  spirits, 
his  interest  and  his  riches  for  the  defence  of  this  poor 
nation,  when  forty  years  ago  it  was  in  the  utmost 
danger  of  popery  and  ruin.* 

And  doubtless  the  spirits  of  the  just  in  heaven  are 
not  utterly  unacquainted  with  the  affairs  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  on  earth.  He  rejoices  and  will  rejoice 
among  his  fellow-saints,  when  happy  tidings  of  the 
militant  church,  or  of  the  religious  interests  of  Great 
Britain,  are  brought  to  the  upper  world  by  minister- 
ing angels.  He  waits  there  for  the  full  accomplish- 
ment of  all.  the  promises  of  Christ  to  his  church, 
when  it  shall  be  freed  from  sins  and  sorrows,  from 
persecutions  and  all  mixtures  of  superstition,  and 
shall  be  presented  to  God  the  Father  a glorious 
church,  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  in  perfect  beauty 
and  joy. 

His  doors  were  ever  open,  and  his  carriage  always 
friendly  and  courteous  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
though  they  were  distinguished  among  themselves 
by  names  of  different  parties;  for  he  loved  all  that 
loved  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

He  chose  indeed  to  bear  a part  in  constant  public 
worship  with  the  protestant  dissenters,  for  he  thought 
their  practice  more  agreeable  to  the  rules  of  the 
gospel;  he  joined  himself  in  communion  with  one 
of  their  churches,  which  was  under  the  pastoral 

* He  was  three  times  chosen  representative  in  parliament  for  the 
county  of  Leicestershire,  in  those  years  when  a sacred  zeal  for  liber- 
ty and  religion  strove  hard  to  bring  in  the  bill  of  exclusion,  to  pre- 
vent the  Duke  of  York  (afterwards  king  James  IT.)  from  inheriting 
the  crown  of  England. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  543 

care  of  the  reverend  Dr.  John  Owen,  where  he  con- 
tinued an  honourable  member  under  successive 
pastors  till  the  day  of  his  death.  Nor  was  he 
ashamed  to  own  and  support  that  despised  interest, 
nor  to  frequent  those  assemblies,  when  the  spirit  of 
persecution  raged  highest  in  the  days  of  king  Charles 
and  king  James  the  Second.  He  was  a present 
refuge  for  the  oppressed,  and  the  special  providence 
of  God  secured  him.  and  his  friends  from  the  fury 
of  the  oppressor.  He  was  always  a devout  and 
diligent  attendant  on  public  ordinances  till  the  last 
years  of  his  life,  when  the  infirmities  of  age  growing 
upon  him,  confined  him  to  his  private  retirements. 

But  if  age  confined  him,  death  gave  him  a release. 
He  is  exalted  now  to  the  church  in  heaven,  and  has 
taken  his  place  in  that  glorious  assembly,  where  he  . 
worships  among  them  before  the  throne;  where  he 
has  no  need  to  relieve  his  memory  by  the  swiftness 
of  his  pen,  which  was  his  perpetual  practice  in  the 
church  on  earth,  and  by  which  means  he  often  enter- 
tained his  family  in  the  evening  worship  on  the 
Lord’s  day  with  excellent  discourses;  some  of  which 
he  copied  from  the’lips  of  some  of  the  greatest  preach- 
ers of  the  last  age;  there  his  unbodied  spirit  is 
able  to  sustain  the  sublimest  raptures  of  devotion, 
which  run  through  the  worshippers  in  that  heavenly 
state;  though  here  on  earth  I have  sometimes  seen 
the  pious  pleasure  too  strong  for  him;  and  while 
he  has  been  reading  the  things  of  God  to  his  house- 
hold, the  devotion  of  his  heart  has  fallen  through 
his  eyes,  has  interrupted  his  voice,  and  commanded 
a sacred  pause  and  silence. 

He  enjoyed  an  intimate  friendship  with  that  great 
and  venerable  man,  Dr.  Owen,  and  this  was  mutually 
cultivated  with  zeal  and  delight  on  both  sides,  till 
death  divided  them.  The  world  has  already  been 
acquainted,  that  it  is  to  the  pious  industry  of  Sir 
John  Hartopp,  that  we  are  indebted  for  many  of 


544  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

those  sermons  and  discourses  of  the  doctor,  which 
have  been  lately  published  in  folio.  A long  and 
familiar  acquaintance  enabled  him  also  to  furnish 
many  memoirs,  or  matters  of  fact,  toward  that  brief 
account  of  the  doctor’s  life,  which  is  prefixed  to  that 
volume,  though  it  was  drawn  up  in  the  present  form 
with  various  enlargements,  by  another  hand. 

Now  can  we  suppose  two  such  souls  to  have  been 
so  happily  intimate  on  earth,  and  may  we  not  ima- 
gine they  have  found  each  other  among  the  bright- 
er spirits  on  high?  May  we  not  indulge  ourselves 
to  believe  that  our  late  honoured  friend  hath  been 
congratulated  on  his  arrival  by  that  holy  man  that 
assisted  to  direct  and  lead  him  thither? 

Nor  is  it  improbable  that  he  has  found  other 
happy  soqls  there  who  were  numbered  among  his 
pious  acquaintance  on  earth.  Shall  I mention  that 
excellent  man,  Sir  Thomas  Abney,  who  was  his  late 
forerunner  to  heaven,  and  had  not  finished  two 
months  there  before  Sir  John  Hartopp’s  arrival? 
Happy  spirits!  May  I congratulate  your  meeting 
in  the  celestial  regions!  But  the  world  and  the 
churches  mourn  your  absence;  and  the  Protestant 
dissenters  lament  the  loss  of  two  of  their  fairest  orna- 
ments and  honours. 

And  is  there  not  the  same  reason  to  believe,  that 
our  departed  friend  hath  by  this  time  renewed  his 
sacred  endearments  with  those  kindred  spirits  that 
were  once  related  to  him  in  some  of  the  nearest 
bonds  of  flesh  and  blood?  There  they  rejoice  to- 
gether in  unknown  satisfaction,  they  wait  and  long 
for  the  arrival  of  those  whom  they  left  behind,  and 
for  whose  immortal  welfare  they  had  a solicitous  con- 
cern in  the  state  of  their  mortality. 

This  thought  opens  my  way  to  address  the  pos- 
terity, the  kindred,  and  the  friends  of  the  deceased, 
in  the  fifth  remark. 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  545 


SECTION  VIII. 

AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  FRIENDS  AND  RELATIVES  OF  THE 
DECEASED. 

Remark  5.  If  the  perfection  of  blessed  spirits 
above  consists  in  a glorious  increase  of  those  virtues 
and  graces  which  were  begun  below,  let  us  see  to 
it,  then,  that  those  graces  and  those  virtues  are  begun 
in  us  here,  or  they  will  never  be  perfected  in  us 
hereafter.  If  our  spirits  have  nothing  of  that  di- 
vine righteousness  wrought  in  them  on  earth,  we 
can  never  be  admitted  into  the  company  of  the 
spirits  of  the  righteous  made  perfect  in  heaven. 

It  is  an  old  saying  among  divines,  but  it.  is  a most 
rational  and  a certain  truth,  that  grace  is  glory  be- 
gun, and  glory  is  but  grace  perfected.  The  saints 
above  have  the  same  divine  nature,  the  same  sancti- 
fied inclinations,  and  are  engaged  in  many  of  the 
same  sacred  employments  with  the  saints  below,  but 
all  in  a superior  degree,  and  in  a more  transcendent 
manner. 

As  for  you,  my  friends,  who  have  the  happiness 
and  honour  to  be  descended  from  such  parents,  or 
to  be  nearly  related  to  such  saints,  you  have  seen 
the  virtues  and  graces,  the  exemplary  character  and 
piety  of  them  who  are  gone  before:  you  have  had 
many  bright  and  shining  examples  in  your  family; 
you  are  the  children  of  the  blessed  of  the  Lord, 
and  may  you  for  ever  be  blessed  with  them!  and  in. 
order  to  it,  see  that  you  are  like  them  now,  that  ye 
may  “be  followers  of  them,  who  through  faith  and 
patience  inherit  the  promises.’* 

47*' 


546  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

This  is  a proper  season  to  examine  yourselves, 
and  call  your  souls  to  account  in  such  language 
as  this:  My  father,  my  mother,  my  honoured  and 
superior  kindred  are  gone  to  glory;  their  graces 
are  perfected;  and  are  not  mine  begun?  What, 
have  I no  evidences  for  heaven  yet  ready?  No  ex- 
ercises of  faith,  of  love,  of  repentance,  of  true  holi- 
ness? Are  they  arrived  at  heaven,  and  am  I not 
yet  travelling  in  the  same  road? 

They  were  convinced  of  sin,  and  the  danger  of 
eternal  death,  so  as  to  give  themselves  no  rest  till 
they  found  salvation.  Have  I ever  been  convinced 
of  the  sin  of  my  nature,  and  the  guilt  of  my  life? 
Have  I beheld  myself  exposed  to  the  anger  of  God, 
and  in  danger  of  everlasting  misery,  so  as  to  cry  out 
with  myself,  What  shall  I do  to  be  saved? 

They  have  seen  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  the  all- 
sufficient  Saviour,  and  have  committed  their  souls 
by  humble  faith  into  his  hands,  to  obtain  pardon 
for  the  sake  of  his  atonement,  to  be  justified  through 
his  righteousness,  to  be  renewed  and  made  holy  by 
the  grace  of  his  Spirit,  and  to  be  preserved  to  eternal 
glory.  Now  what  have  I seen  of  the  excellency, 
or  all-sufficiency,  or  necessity  of  Christ  as  a Media- 
tor? Have  I been  persuaded  to  trust  in  him  for  my 
acceptance  with  God,  to  give  my  soul  up  to  him  as 
my  guide,  guard,  and  ruler,  to  be  formed  after  his 
image,  and  to  venture  all  my  immortal  concerns 
with  him  to  be.  brought  safe  to  heaven?  Have  I 
ever  received  him  as  my  Lord  and  my  Saviour, 
under  those  condescending  characters  and  offices 
which  he  sustains  for  a sinner’s  salvation? 

They  have  believed  in  him  while  he  was  unseen, 
and  they  loved  him,  though  they  saw  him  not; 
they  rejoiced  in  him  as  their  all,  and  they  knew 
not  how  to  live  without  him.  How  is  it  with  my 
soul  in  this  respect?  Do  I love  Jesus  the  Lord? 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  547 

Is  he  the  desire  of  my  heart,  and  the  delight  of  my 
life? 

Though  they  were  kept  by  the  grace  of  God 
from  the  pollutions  of  this  world,  and  upheld  their 
unblemished  character  to  the  last,  yet  they  found  sin 
to  be  their  most  dangerous  enemy ; they  have  felt 
it  bitter  and  painful  to  their  souls,  and  they  long 
groaned  under  it  as  their  daily  burden.  What  is 
my  grief?  what  my  chief  sorrow?  Do  I groan  in 
this  tabernacle  being  burdened,  because  of  this  in- 
ward enemy?  And  do  I long  to  be  rid  of  it?  Are 
my  sinful  affections  like  a pain  at  my  heart,  and  do 
the  workings  of  sin  within  me  awaken  my  continual 
repentance? 

They  maintained  a sacred  tenderness  of  conscience, 
and  were  afraid  to  indulge  themselves  in  that  com- 
pany, in  that  practice,  and  in  those  liberties  of  life 
which  have  often  proved  a dangerous  snare  to  souls. 
Now  can  I appeal  to  God,  who  sees  my  heart,  that 
I am  cautious  and  watchful  against  every  snare,  that 
I stand  afar  off  from  every  temptation,  and  abstain 
from  all  appearance  of  evil? 

They  took  sweet  pleasure  in  retirement,  in  prayer 
and  other  holy  exercises;  this  wa^  the  refreshment 
of  their  hearts,  and  the  throne  of  grace  was  their  re- 
fuge under  every  distress  and  difficulty.  Let  me  ask 
my  heart,  what  is  my  pleasure,  my  inward  delight? 
Do  I find  a sweet  relish  in  devotion?  And  when  out- 
ward troubles  perplex  me,  do  I make  the  mercy-seat 
my  speedy  and  constant  refuge? 

They  lived  upon  their  Bible,  they  counted  the 
gospel  their  treasure,  and  the  promises  and  the  words 
of  God  written  there  were  more  valuable  to  them 
than  all  their  outward  riches.  But  what  is  my  life? 
what  is  my  treasure  ? what  is  my  hope  ? Do  I count 
heaven  and  the  gospel  my  chief  inheritance  ? Do  I 
converse  much  with  my  Bible,  and  find  food  and 
support  there?  Do  I look  at  things  unseen  and  eter- 


548  THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS. 

nal,  and  feed  and  rest  upon  the  promised  glories  of 
another  world,  when  I meet  with  disappointments 
here  ? 

They  had  a large  share  of  Christian  experiences,  a 
rich  stock  of  divine  and  spiritual  observations  by  much 
converse  with  God,  and  with  their  own  souls.  What 
have  I got  of  this  kind  for  the  support  of  my  soul? 
or  are  all  these  strange  things  to  me  ? 

Believe  me,  my  dear  and  honoured  friends,  these 
are  matters  of  infinite  importance  : I am  sure  you 
will  think  so  one  day;  and  I trust  and  persuade  my- 
self you  think  them  so  now.  I cannot  give  myself 
leave  to  imagine  that  you  put  these  thoughts  far 
from  you.  Some  of  you  have  made  it  appear  that 
they  lie  next  your  heart,  and  that  your  souls  are 
deeply  engaged  in  the  ways  of  God  and  goodness. 
O that  every  one  of  you  would  give  the  same  com- 
fort and  joy  to  your  friends!  Be  not  satisfied  with 
a mere  negative  holiness,  an  unspotted  character  in. 
the  eyes  of  the  world;  but  let  the  world  know  that 
you  dare  to  be  religious,  and  profess  universal  pie- 
ty in  a degenerate  age.  Let  those  that  honour  the 
memory  of  your  parents,  and  love  your  souls,  re- 
joice in  your  public  Christianity.  Let  them  know, 
that  there  are  the  foundations  of  heavenly  glory 
laid  within  you  all,  and  the  blessed  work  begun  on 
earth,  that  shall  surely  be  made  perfect  among  the 
spirits  of  the  just  in  heaven. 

And  methinks  I would  not  have  you  contented 
with  the  lowest  seat  there;  but  stir  up  yourselves 
to  a most  unwearied  pursuit  of  holiness  in  the  sub- 
limer  degrees  of  it.  And  thus  labouring  in  the 
Christian  race,  contend  for  some  of  the  brighter 
prizes,  some  of  the  richer  crowns  of  glory.  Be  not 
satisfied  to  sit  at  a great  distance  below  your  parents 
departed,  even  in  the  heavenly  country ; but  strive 
with  a holy  ambition  that  you  may  come  near  them, 


/ 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  SEPARATE  SPIRITS.  549 

that  the  whole  family  together  may  arrive  at  some 
superior  degrees  of  blessedness.  And  O may  divine 
grace  grant  me  the  pleasure  to  be  a witness  to  your 
exalted  stations,  and  to  worship  and  rejoice  amongst 
you  there!  Amen. 


. I 

«WI in  i iTAJUfc  : 1 ) - av  r Alt  *HT  . 

I . 

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. 

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. 

V 


, 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 

Job  xxiii.  3.1 

0 that  I knew  where  I might  find  him ! 


Among  all  the  various  kinds  and  orders  of  God’s 
intellectual  creation,  there  is  not  one  that  uses  this 
language  besides  a mourning  saint  in  this  lower 
world.  As  for  all  other  spirits,  whether  dwelling  in 
flesh  or  not,  their  wishes  are  expressed  in  a very  dif- 
ferent manner;  nor  do  they  seek  and  long  to  find  out 
an  absent  God. 

If  we  ascend  up  to  heaven,  and  inquire  there  what 
are  the  wishes  of  those  blessed  spirits,  we  shall  find 
that  their  enjoyments  are  so  glorious,  and  their  satis- 
factions rise  so  high  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
God  amongst  them,  that  they  have  nothing  of  this  na- 
ture left  to  wish  for;  they  know  that  their  God  is 
with  them,  and  all  their  wish  is  what  they  are  assured 
to  enjoy,  That  this  God  will  be  with  them  for  ever. 

If  we  descend  to  the  regions  of  hell,  where  God 
reigns  in  vengeance,  we  shall  hear  those  unhappy 
spirits  groaning  out  many  a fruitless  wish.  “ O that 
I knew  where  I might  avoid  him,  that  1 might  get 
out  of  his  sight,  out  of  his  notice  and  reach  for  ever! 
I feel  this  dreadful  presence,  and  O that  it  were  pos- 
sible for  me  to  be  utterly  absent  from  him,  and  to 
find  a place  where  God  is  not!’’ 

If  we  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  fly  to  the 
utmost  parts  of  the  eastern  or  the  western  world,  we 
shall  find  the  language  of  those  ignorant  heathens, 
“ 0 that  I knew  where  I might,  find  food,  and  plen- 
ty, and  all  sensual  delights!”  but  they  send  not  a 
wish  after  the  great  God,  though  he  has  been  so 


552 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 


many  ages  absent  from  them  and  their  fathers.  He 
is  unknown  to  them,  and  they  have  no  desires  work- 
ing in  them  after  an  unknown  God. 

If  we  tarry  at  home  and  survey  the  bulk  of  man- 
kind around  us,  the  voice  of  their  wishes  sounds 
much  the  same  as  that  of  the  heathen  world.  “ O 
that  I knew  where  I might  find  trade  and  merchan- 
dise, riches  and  honour,  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  the  neces- 
saries or  the  superfluous  luxuries  of  life \”  But  God 
is  not  in  all  their  thoughts.  If  they  frequent  the 
, temples,  and  attend  the  seasons  of  worship,  they  are 
well  enough  satisfied  with  outward  forms  without  the 
sight  of  God  in  them.  There  is  no  natural  man  that 
with  a sincere  longing  of  soul  cries  out,  “ 0 that  I 
knew  where  to  find  him  !” 

As  for  the  children  of  God  that  live  in  the  light  of 
their  Father’s  countenance,  they  walk  with  him  dai- 
ly and  hourly,  they  behold  him  near  them  by  the 
eye  of  faith,  and  they  feel  the  sweet  influences  of  his 
gracious  presence;  their  highest  ambition  and  their 
dearest  wishes  are,  “Oh  that  he  might  abide  for 
ever  with  me,  and  keep  me  for  ever  near  to  him- 
self!” 

The  words  of  this  scripture  therefore  can  only  be 
the  language  of  a saint  on  earth  in  distress  and  dark- 
ness;  when  God,  who  was  wont  to  visit  him  with 
divine  communications,  and  to  meet  him  in  his  ad- 
dresses to  the  throne  of  grace,  has  withdrawn  himself 
for  a season,  and  left  the  soul  to  grapple  with  many 
difficulties  alone. 

This  was  the  case  of  that  holy  man,  whose  sorrows 
and  complaints  have  furnished  out  almost  a whole 
book  of  scripture,  and  supplied  the  saints  in  all  suc- 
ceeding ages  with  the  forms  and  speeches  of  pious 
mourning.  It  is  the  voice  of  a sacred  impatience 
that  Job  here  utters,  “O  that  I knew  where  I might 
find  him!”  and  by  a plain  paraphrase  we  may  learn 
both  the  meaning  and  the  reason  of  such  language, 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD.  553 

and  be  taught  by  his  example  to  lament  after  an  ab- 
sent God. 

Let  us  suppose  the  saint  therefore  pouring  out  his 
soul  in  such  sort  of  expressions  as  these,  in  which  I 
shall  not  entirely  confine  myself  to  the  darkness  of 
the  patriarchal  dispensation  under  which  Job  lived, 
but  indulge  the  language  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
personate  a mourning  Christian. 

“Time  was  when  I had  a God  near  me,  and  upon 
every  new  distress  and  difficulty  I made  him  my 
present  refuge;  I was  wont  to  call  upon  him  in  an 
hour  of  darkness,  and  he  shone  upon  my  path  with 
divine  light.  He  has  often  taught  me  to  read  my 
duty  in  his  providences,  or  in  his  word,  or  by  some 
secret  hints  of  his  own  Spirit,  even  while  I have 
been  kneeling  at  the  throne  of  grace;  but  now  I 
find  not  my  usual  signs  and  tokens,  my  guide  and 
my  counsellor  is  withdrawn.  6 O that  I knew  where 
I might  find  him.’ 

“He  was  once  my  kind  assistant  in  every  duty 
and  my  support  under  every  burden ; I have  found 
the  grace  of  my  Lord  sufficient  for  me  in  my  sharp- 
est conflicts,  his  strength  has  appeared  in  my  weak- 
ness. When  my  spiritual  enemies  have  beset  me 
round,  he  has  scattered  them  before  me,  or  subdued 
them  under  me;  and  being  held  up  by  his  everlast- 
ing arms,  I have  stood  my  ground,  and  borne  up  my 
head  under  the  weight  of  heavy  sorrows;  but  now 
I am  attacked  on  all  sides,  my  soul  wrestles  hard  with 
sins  and  temptations,  and  I find  no  assistance,  no 
victory;  I sink  under  my  present  sorrows;  for  my 
God,  my  strength,  and  my  comforter,  is  absent,  and 
afar  off.  ‘O  that  I knew  where  I might  find  him!' 

“My  God  was  wont  to  deal  with  me  as  a compas- 
sionate friend;  when  Satan  accused,  he  has  justified. 
He  has  shown  me  the  all-sufficient  sacrifice  of  his  Son, 
and  that  spotless  righteousness  of  his  which  has  an- 
48 


554 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 


swered  all  the  demands  of  his  own  holy  law,  and  can- 
celled all  the  charges  of  guilt  that  the  devil,  or  my 
own  conscience  could  bring  against  me.  He  has 
taught  me  by  faith  to  put  my  soul  under  the  sprink- 
lings of  this  sacred  blood,  and  to  wrap  around  me  the 
robe  of  his  divine  righteousness;  he  himself  has 
arrayed  me  in  garments  of  salvation ; but  now  the 
army  of  my  sins  rises  up  before  me,  and  overwhelms 
my  spirit  with  many  terrors;  Satan  the  accuser 
urges  on  the  charge,  and  my  Saviour  and  his  righ- 
teousness are,  as  it  were,  hidden  from  me.  ‘O  that 
I knew  where  I might  find  him !’ 

‘‘Many  a censure  have  I borne  from  men,  and 
had  my  reputation  assaulted,  and  my  good  name 
blackened  with  many  a scandal.  But  when  man 
reproached  me,  God  has  undertaken  my  cause,  and 
made  my  righteousness  shine  as  the  light,  and  my 
innocence  as  the  noon-day;  I could  then  pour  out 
my  soul  before  him,  tell  him  all  my  sorrows  in  flow- 
ing language,  and  feel  sweet  relief;  but  now,  alas! 
troubles  and  reproaches  are  multiplied  upon  me,  and 
he  does  not  seem  to  take  my  part;  my  spirit  is  bound 
and  shut  up,  and  I am  cut  off  from  that  free  con- 
verse, that  humble,  holy  intimacy  which  I once  en- 
joyed with  my  God;  ‘I  cry  out  of  wrong,  but  I am 
not  heard;  I cry  aloud,  but  there  is  no  judgment.’ 
Will  he  not  help  me  to  pray?  Will  he  not  hear  my 
groans  and  requests?  ‘Hath  God  forgotten  to  be 
gracious?’  Yet  I would  seek  his  fi*ce  still,  and  ‘O 
that  I knew  where  I might  find  him!’ 

“Often  have  I seen  him  in  his  own  ordinances  in 
the  place  of  public  worship;  I have  seen  his  power 
and  his  glory  in  the  sanctuary;  I have  found  him. in 
secret  corners,  and  my  meditation  of  him  has  been 
exceedingly  sweet.  In  dark  retirements  he  has 
smiled  on  my  soul,  and  has  often  given  me  reviving 
light.  I have  found  him  in  his  works,  and  I have 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 


555 


had  a fairer  sight  of  him  in  his  word ; I can  name  the 
places,  the  pleasant  lines  in  my  Bible,  and  say,  ‘I 
have  seen  the  face  of  my  God  here;5  but  now  the 
Bible  itself  is  like  a sealed  book,  or  like  a strange  lan- 
guage which  I cannot  understand  > I hear  not  the 
voice  of  my  God  speaking  to  me  there;  I go  forward 
to  his  promises,  and  read  what  he  will  do  for  his 
people,  but  I perceive  him  not;  backward  to  his  past ' 
providences,  or  to  my  own  experiences,  and  review 
what  he  has  done,  but  there  is  a darkness  too;  I 
turn  to  my  left  hand  amongst  his  works  of  nature, 
but  I do  not  see  him;  I seek  him  on  my  right  hand 
amongst  his  works  of  grace,  but  still  he  hides  him- 
self  that  I cannot  behold  him,  ver.  8,  9:  ‘I  wander 
in  the  night  and  inquire  after  him,5  I watch  for  him 
more  than  they  that  vtfatch  for  the  morning,  I say 
more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning;  ‘O  that 
I knew  where  I might  find  him!’ 

“And  it  is  no  wonder  that  I am  so  impatient  under 
the  painful  sense  of  his  present  distance  from  me, 
and  so  importunate  for  his  return;  for  I have  known 
the  dreadful  case  of  utter  distance  from  him  in  a state 
of  nature  and  sin,  and  I have  tasted  something  of 
the  pleasure  of  being  brought  nigh  by  grace;  and 
now  I dread  every  thing  that  looks  like  the  old  dis- 
tance, that  estrangement;  I would  fain  renew  those 
divine  pleasures  of  a returning  and  a reconciled  God; 

‘ O that  I knew  where  I might  find  him  V 
“Besides,  I bethink  myself  and  say,  ‘What  shall 
I do  without  a God!’  for  I find  all  creatures  utterly 
insufficient  to  relieve  and  help  me;  and  I have  known 
something  of  God’s  all-sufficiency;  he  has  been  my 
helper  in  six  troubles  and  in  seven;  he  is  my  only 
hope;  when  creatures  stand  aloof  from  me,  and  each 
of  them  says,  ‘There  is  no  help  in  me,’  whither 
should  I go  then  but  to  my  God?  ‘O  that  I knew 
where  I might  find  him!’ 

“I  have  been  so  much  used  to  live  upon  him,  and 


556 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD. 


found  his  divine  aids  and  influences  so  necessary  to 
my  life  and  my  peace,  that  I sink  and  die  at  his  ab- 
sence. I feel  within  myself  a sort  of  heavenly  in- 
stinct that  I want  his  presence,  and  cannot  live  with- 
out him.  I know  he  stands  in  no  need  of  me,  for  he 
gives  to  all  his  creatures  life,  and  breath,  and  being; 
but  I need  his  counsels  and  his  comforts,  his  strength 
* and  his  love;  my  soul  is  touched  with  such  a divine 
influence,  that  it  cannot  rest  while  God  withdraws, 
as  the  needle  trembles  and  hunts  after  the  hidden 
loadstone.  If  my  God  retire  and  hide  himself,  he 
will  forgive  a creature  that  loves  him  so  well  as  to 
follow  hard  after  him  without  ceasing,  and  is  impa- 
tient and  restless  till  he  search  him  out;  ‘ O that  I 
knew  where  I might  find  him!’ 

“Though  God  is  pleased  to  depart  from  me  for 
a season,  yet  I cannot  let  go  all  my  hope;  he  hides 
himself  from  my  soul,  yet  I dare  not  think  him  an 
enemy,  but  only  a concealed  friend ; if  I could  get 
near  him  even  to  his  seat,  I know  I should  find  it  a 
mercy-seat,  though  perhaps  judgment  may  sit  there 
too.  It  is  a throne  of  grace,  says  a Christian,  be- 
cause Jesus  is  there  with  the  blood  of  atonement; 
and  having  such  a High-priest  over  the  house  of 
God,  and  such  a new  and  living  way  of  access  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  I will  seek  after  him  and  address 
myself  to  him;  I will  confess  mine  iniquities  before 
him,  and  be  sorry  for  my  sins,  which  may  have  be- 
clouded or  eclipsed  my  heavenly  sun,  and  hid  his 
face  from  me;  I fear  I have  grieved  his  blessed 
Spirit,  and  provoked  him  to  withdraw  his  kind  in- 
fluences of  light,  strength,  and  comfort;  nor  will  I 
cease  grieving  for  his  absence  till  he  return  again. 

“Come,  O eternal  Spirit,  come  and  visit  my  poor 
dark  and  disconsolate  soul;  come  and  awaken  all 
my  powers  to  follow  hard  after  my  Father  and  my 
God!  Come,  invigorate  my  faith,  and  lead  me  to 
the  Mediator,  the  blessed  Jesus;  come,  open  to  me 


LONGING  AFTER  GOD*. 


557 


the  promises,  and  let  me  into  the  covenant  of  his 
unchangeable  love,  ratified  and  sealed  with  blood. 
If  ever  I find  my  God  again,  it  is  there  I know  I 
must  find  him ; Christ  is  the  only  way  to  the  Father. 
It  is  by  the  interest  of  his  Son  I shall  get  near  to 
him,  even  to  his  seat;  then  will  I pour  out  all  my 
woes  and  my  wants  in  his  sight,  ‘I  will  order  my 
cause  before  him,  and  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments. 
Will  he  plead  against  me  with  his  great  power? 
No,  but  he  will  put  strength  in  me,’  and  assist  and 
suffer  me  to  prevail  with  him. 

“Then,  ‘when  I have  found  him  whom  my  soul 
loveth,  I will  hold  him  fast  and  not  let  him  go;’  I 
will  charge  all  the  powers  and  passions  of  my  nature 
not  to  yield  to  one  sinful  practice,  nor  provoke  him 
to  depart,  for  he  is  my  everlasting  and  my  almighty 
Friend. 

“Then,  though  I should  have  a thousand  enemies 
‘set  themselves  against  me,  I would  not  be  afraid;’ 
‘yea,  though  I walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I will  fear  no  evil/  for  I have  found  my 
God,  and  my  God  is  with  me.” 


48* 


* : *>  f.-|>  r«  , 

"if  ■ ■ 't;,j 

■ ■ ■ 


: 

■ 

% 


. 

. 


DEATH  AND  HEAVEN, 

IN  FIVE  LYRIC  ODES. 

ODE  I. 

THE  spirit’s  FAREWELL  TO  THE  BODY  AFTER  LONG  SICKNESS. 

I. 

How  am  I held  a prisoner  now, 

Far  from  my  God  ! This  mortal  chain 

Binds  me  to  sorrow;  all  below 

Is  short-lived  ease  or  tiresome  pain. 

ii. 

When  shall  that  wondrous  hour  appear. 

Which  frees  me  from  this  dark  abode, 

To  live  at  large  in  regions,  where 

Nor  cloud  nor  veil  shall  hide  my  God  ? 

in. 

Farewell  this  flesh,  these  ears,  these  eyes, 

These  snares  and  fetters  of  the  mind; 

My  God,  nor  let  this  frame  arise, 

Till  every  dust  be  well  refined. 

IV. 

Jesus,  who  mak’st  our  natures  whole, 

Mould  me  a body  like  thine  own; 

Then  it  shall  better  serve  my  soul 

In  works  of  praise  and  worlds  unknown 


560 


DEATH  AND  HEAVEN. 


ODE  II. 

THE  DEPARTING  MOMENT;  OR  ABSENT  FROM  THE  BODV. 

I. 

Absent  from  flesh  ! 0 blissful  thought! 

What  unknown  joys  this  moment  brings  ! 

Freed  from  the  mischiefs  sin  has  wrought, 

From  pains,  and  tears,  and  all  their  springs. 

ii. 

Absent  from  flesh  ! Illustrious  day ! 

Surprising  scene!  triumphant  stroke, 

That  rends  the  prison  of  my  clay, 

And  I can  feel  my  fetters  broke! 

in. 

Absent  from  flesh  ! Then  rise,  my  soul, 

Where  feet  or  wings  could  never  climb, 

Beyond  the  heavens  where  planets  roll, 

Measuring  the  cares  and  joys  of  time. 

iv. 

I go  where  God  and  glory  shine; 

His  presence  makes  eternal  day. 

My  all  that’s  mortal  I resign, 

For  Uriel  waits  and  points  my  way. 


ODE  III. 

ENTRANCE  INTO  PARADISE;  OR  PRESENT  WITH  THE  LORD. 

I. 

And  is  this  heaven  ? And  am  i there? 

How  short  the  road  ! How  swift  the  flight ! 

I am  all  life,  all  eye,  all  ear ; 

Jesus  is  here, — my  soul’s  delight. 


DEATH  AND  HEAVEN. 


II. 

Is  this  the  heavenly  Friend  who  hung 
In  blood  and  anguish  on  the  tree, 

Whom  Paul  proclaim’d,  whom  David  sung, 
Who  died  for  them,  who  died  for  me  ? 

hi. 

How  fair,  thou  Offspring  of  my  God! 

Thou  first-horn  Image  of  his  face  ! 

Thy  death  procured  this  blest  abode, 

Thy  vital  beams  adorn  the  place. 

IV. 

Lo,  he  presents  me  at  the  throne 

All  spotless;  there  the  Godhead  reigns 
Sublime  and  peaceful  through  {he  Son : 
Awake,  my  voice,  in  heavenly  strains. 


ODE  IV. 

THE  SIGHT  OF  GOD  IN  HEAVEN. 


I. 

Creator,  God,  eternal  Light, 

Fountain  of  good,  tremendous  Power, 
Ocean  of  wonders,  blissful  sight ! 

Beauty  and  love  unknown  before  ! 


ii. 

Thy  grace,  thy  nature,  all  unknown 
In  yon  dark  region  whence  I came; 
Where  languid  glimpses  from  thy  throne 
And  feeble  whispers  teach  thy  name. 


562  DEATH  AND  HEAVEN. 

ill. 

I’m  in  a world  where  all  is  new; 

Myself,  my  God  ; 0 blest  amaze  ! 

Not  my  best  hopes  or  wishes  knew 
To  form  a shadow  of  this  grace. 

IV. 

Fix’d  on  my  God,  my  heart,  adore; 

My  restless  thoughts,  forbear  to  rove; 
Ye  meaner  passions,  stir  no  more; 

But  all  my  powers  be  joy  and  love. 


ODE  V. 

A FUNERAL  ODE  AT  THE  INTERMENT  OF  THE  BODY,  SUPPOSED 
TO  BE  SUNG  BY  THE  MOURNERS. 


I. 

Unveil  thy  bosom,  faithful  tomb; 

Take  this  new  treasure  to  thy  trust, 

And  give  these  sacred  relics  room 
To  seek  a slumber  in  the  dust. 

ii. 

Nor  pain,  nor  grief,  nor  anxious  fear 
Invade  thy  bounds.  No  mortal  woes 
Can  reach  the  lovely  sleeper  here, 

And  angels  watch  her  soft  repose. 

hi. 

So  Jesus  slept:  God’s  dying  Son 

Pass’d  through  the  grave,  and  bless’d  the  bed. 


DEATH  AND  HEAVEN. 


563 


Rest  here,  fair  saint;  till  from  his  throne 
The  morning  break  and  pierce  the  shade. 

IV. 

Break  from  his  throne,  illustrious  morn; 

Attend,  0 earth,  his  sovereign  word; 
Restore  thy  trust,  a glorious  form ; 

She  must  ascend  to  meet  her  Lord 


THE  ENT). 


' 


Y 


\ 


\ 


/ 


' 


